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YOU SHOULD READ 

EVERY ONE OF THIS SERIES OF 

INTERESTING BOOKS 


Christian Sabbath, The 
Christian Science X-Rayed 
Epidemics: How to Meet Them 
Facing the Crisis 
Food Question, The 
Freedom 

Heralds of the King 

Marked Bible, The 

Our Lord’s Return 

Our Paradise Home 

Other Side of Death, The 

Satan: His Origin, Work, and Destiny 

Socialism in the Test Tube 

Spiritualism versus Christianity 

Steps to Christ 

To-Day and To-Morrow 

What Is Coming? 

World’s Destiny, The 

Paper covers, 96 and 128 pages, well illustrated. 
Price 25 cents each, postpaid. 

(In Canada, 30 cents) 

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA 

St. Paul, Minnesota Portland, Oregon Kansas City, Missouri 

Cristobal, Canal Zone 





J£L_ 

( i'Z t 


THE MARKED BIBLE 



Mother 

“The mother, in her office, holds 
the key 

Of the soul; and she it is who 
stamps the coin 

Of character, and makes the be¬ 
ing who would be a savage 

But for her gentle cares, a Chris¬ 
tian man* 

Then crown her queen o’ the 
world.” 























Copyright 1922, by 
Pacific Press Publishing Association 


M 


©Cl. A15 7 4 7 3 0 

<JUN 27 1922 


<MC f 


INTRODUCTION 

This little book from the beginning created a demand for 
its multiplication. The author, Charles Lindsay Taylor, was 
preeminently a soul winner and builder. He gave his heart 
to God at the early age of fifteen, and two years later dedi¬ 
cated his all to his chosen Master’s service. 

The writer of this brief introduction became acquainted 
with him in his early Christian experience. There were times 
when together they labored for the salvation of souls. Fre¬ 
quent changes were necessitated on account of ill health, but 
never cessation of earnest work for his Master and for souls 
for whom the Master died. 

Educational work was part of his life. He taught in 
schools in California, Georgia, Washington, Minnesota, Ohio, 
and Michigan, closing his teaching work in Emmanuel Mission¬ 
ary College, in Berrien Springs, in the state last named. In 
Sabbath school and missionary work he was greatly interested. 
His experience as a chaplain for years in a large sanitarium 
brought him into close and intimate touch with the sick and 
suffering. 

He was an indefatigable student, and the chief book in 
his life’s course of study was the Bible. He had an exceptional 
gift as a clear, convincing writer, a spirit and style peculiarly 
impressive and sympathetic. His hundreds of contributions 
to the religious press attest this; and the two books, “ A Neigh¬ 
borhood Transformer” and “The Marked Bible,” that came 
from his pen during the last two years of his life, written in 
pain and suffering, bring home to the heart in strikingly 
convincing power two great phases of truth. 

His great desire was to present Biblical truth involving a 
cross from the true winning side, that the glory of truth’s 
blessings and beauties might illuminate with a new luster the 
cross, and transform it into a refuge, a guide to glory eternal. 

In this little work, he has set before the reader in a com¬ 
posite life picture, not unreal, the struggle of souls enmeshed 
in sin and prejudice, for light and truth. He shows the wis¬ 
dom of the humble disciple and the power of the Word to 
lead the soul through it all to restful triumph in Christ. There 
is not a phase of life presented in this booklet, not an incon¬ 
sistent argument against the truth of God, that has not been 

(5) 


VI 


Introduction 


witnessed over and over in the great throngs of humanity that 
fill the “valley of decision” which lies between the sinks of 
selfishness and sin, and the glorious evergreen mountains of 
God’s victorious way. 

This edition reaches 353,000 copies, and in this present 
form, it will far exceed this enormous issue. The author fell 
asleep in Jesus, in the full tide of his usefulness, December 
18, 1918; but his works follow on, continually bringing souls 
to Christ. 


He saw God’s truth, but did not stay 
To ask if others saw the way. 

Content was he in heart to know 
That Jesus walked there here below. 
And evermore He walks with men, 
That men may walk His paths again. 
And He is more than all besides; 

For others fail, but He abides. 


M. C. W. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

1. A Rebellious Son, a Mother’s Love.9 

2. A Godly Sea Captain’s Answered Prayer ... 17 

3. Sad News prom Home — Fighting Against God . . 26 

4. On the Upward Way .34 

5. A Real Missionary . 38 

6. An Embarrassed Captain. 42 

7. An Embarrassed Minister.49 

8. Theological Disagreement and Confusion . . 56 

9. A Ship Captain on the Day Line.64 

10. The Strange Preacher Talks.71 

11. Interested Questioners.80 

12. A Sabbath Rescue from Drowning.90 

13. Meeting God in the Way .97 

14. Light from Prophecy.. 104 

15. A Choice That Is Vital. Ill 

16. The Fruitage of the Marked Bible.120 


(7) 













Think not, thou mother heart. 
That God hears not thy cry. 




CHAPTER I 


A Rebellious Son, a Mother’s Love 

“TAON’T mention it again, I tell yon — never again. I am 
AJ tired of all this talk about Christianity, and I’m not 
going to stand it any longer. You may do as you please, but 
I insist that you stop making life here at home so unpleas¬ 
ant for me.” 

“But, son, remember father. His dying request was for 
you. Just let me tell you of one thing he said about you in 
his last prayer. He called me to his bedside, and with choked 
voice —” 

“Mother, you seem to think I don’t mean what I say, and 
so you will keep on. But I have my mind made up to end this 
whole business. I may as well tell you that one week from 
to-day I am going to sea. Now please let me live in peace the 
few days I am here with you, and I will be thankful.” 

The Undying Love of His Mother 

Mrs. Wilson had been a wise, tactful mother. For fifteen 
long years, she had been alone in the world, battling with 
poverty, but always seeking faithfully to shield her child from 
the corrupting influence of the great city in which she had her 
home. By night and by day, Harold’s name had been upon her 
lips in prayer. 

It was not true, however, that she had been given to much 
talk, as might be supposed from the son’s complaint. As a 
mother ought, she had wisely restrained, and had insisted 
that her decisions be respected. But her words had been few, 
especially during the later years, when Harold’s age demanded 
that he begin to fulfill the responsibilities of manhood, and 
to act more fully the independent part of life. 

When his father died, Harold was a boy of eight years. 
From his birth, he had been dedicated to God. It was the su¬ 
preme ambition of both father and mother that he should be 
trained for the work of the gospel, and devote his life to pro¬ 
claiming the good news of Him who died to save from sin, and 
who would one day come again in glory to receive His people 
to Himself. Theirs was a “blessed hope,” and their child gave 
promise of reaching the end they sought. He was a beautiful 
boy, and early gave evidence of a love for the things of God. 

(9) 


10 


The Marked Bible 


Then a strange change came. The kind and careful hus¬ 
band and father was stricken down with a fatal illness. 1 or 
many months he lay; and the means he had been studiously 
saving up for his boy’s education were taken for the payment 
of the ever and rapidly increasing bills. Finally all was gone. 
When at last the end came in sight, he called his wife and 
little one to his side, and together they prayed once more that 
God would remember the consecration they had made, and in 
His own good way and time bring little Harold to be a soul 
winner for Christ, as they had planned. 

“Does God hear? Does He answer?” These were the 
questions that had been presenting themselves to Mrs. Wil¬ 
son’s mind for more than two years now; for, notwithstanding 
all her pleadings, all her tears, all her struggles, the influence 
of worldly associations had gradually and surely alienated 
her son from God, and more and more he had come to manifest 
a positive dislike for all that pertained to God and His word 
of truth. 

A Criminal and a Renegade 

At the time this story opens, Harold had become a drunk¬ 
ard, a gambler, a thief. He seemed the exact reproduction, in 
his characteristics, of a great-grandfather whose life had been 
made notorious by atheism, blasphemy, drunkenness, and 
murder, and who had ended his life on the gallows. As Mrs. 
Wilson thought upon this fact,— that in her son was being 
fulfilled the scripture, “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers 
upon the children unto Ihe third and fourth generation,”— 
her heart almost broke within her, and she began to despair. 

She had been led to speak to her son once more because of 
crime recently committed in the neighborhood of her home, 
suspicion resting upon him. In her heart, she little doubted 
that he was involved, and the thought so cruelly hurt her 
that she could not remain silent. Hence she spoke. 

But when she did so, there came the last crushing disap¬ 
pointment. She was told never again to mention the subject 
of a better life. In fact, she was to have slight opportunity, 
for Harold had declared his intention of going to sea, and 
only a few days intervened. Besides, he was going under a 
cloud, very probably to escape the clutches of the law. 

“Oh, my boy, my boy! I have prayed and prayed that 
you might grow to be a noble, God-fearing man. I have asked 


A Rebellious Son, a Mother’s Love 


11 


God continually to take you for His service. I have done all 
I have known to do to keep you from the world. I have hoped 
and trusted that you would be kept. But to-day you are a 
criminal, a godless, wicked man. You hate religion. You 
turn from me as though I were one of your worst enemies. 
Oh, my Harold, my treasure, must I give you up ?” 

Thus spoke Mrs. Wilson to herself out of the agony of her 
heart after her son had so ruthlessly denied her the privilege 
of again speaking to him of the Christian hope. 

A Mother’s Dream 


And while his mother mourned and wept, Harold caroused. 
With an almost fiendish enthusiasm, he joined with his asso¬ 
ciates in riotous pleasure, and more than once his voice was 
heard in denunciation of his parents’ hopes. He drank and 
cursed, and even challenged the Almighty, if He existed, to 
come and strike him down if He dared. So far had he fallen! 

Does God hear? Does God answer? Sad a mother’s 


prayers been unheeded ? Had all those years of toil and sacri¬ 
fice and devotion and trust been in vain? — No, thank God. no. 


“Think not, thou mother heart, 

That God hears not thy cry. 

Thine interests are His, 

And He is standing nigh. 

He listens, waits, and longs to prove 
That HeJjaJaod, thy God, thy Love. 

“Nor doubt, then, nor despair; 

Trust on through dark, through light; 
Fear not to bide His time; 

He’ll surely do the right. 

He knows the secrets of thy soul. 

Thy son shall one day be made whole.” 


It was a terribly dark hour to the dear mother; and worn 
out with the heavy burden, and not seeing as yet the welcome 
approach of a brighter day, she lay down and fell asleep. 

She dreamed! 

It was the morning of eternity. The world was new. All 
marks of the curse were gone. Sin and all its consequences 
had been removed forever. She saw the Saviour. She saw 
the saints of all the ages, the innumerable multitudes with the 
palms and the harps. And ere she could have a moment of dis¬ 
appointment, there stood by her side her companion of early 


12 


The Marked Bible 


years. He looked into her face, radiant with life; and then, 
out of the fullness of his supreme joy, he said, “And here is 
Harold!” 

“Yes, here I am, father/’ came the musical answer of him 
who had been precious in their eyes; and then he stood before 
them — their son, made over into the image of the blessed 
Christ. 

“Harold, 0 Harold! Bless God! My Father did hear and 
He did answer. Ah, I thought you would not come! And 
how did the Master find and redeem you ?” 

“Mother, do you remember the marked Bible you hid 
among my things the day I left you and went to sea? The 
message you wrote in the Book, and the message of the Book 
itself, broke my hardened spirit, and I could not find rest until 
I laid my weary self at His feet. He lifted me up, He taught 
me of the right way, He guided my soul to this better land.” 

She Marks the Bible 

How long she slept, Mrs. Wilson knew not; but when she 
awoke, it was long past midnight, and she heard Harold 
stumbling up to his room. 

But why did his heavy, uncertain step at this time fail to 
trouble her as it had before? Why could she resign herself 
to what seemed a veritable tragedy, which was wrecking her 
home ? 

She was not a believer in dreams. She did not regard the 
beautiful picture that had been projected upon the screen of 
her mind as being necessarily divine. There had come to her, 
however, in the experience, a suggestion of a new work of 
love. She had found also a new basis for hope, a new vision 
of possibilities; and with a mother’s loyal quickness, her plans 
were immediately formulated for putting the suggestion into 
practice. 

What a blessed mission was that of the new day, when 
with her widow’s mite — the savings of many a long, weary 
day — she found her way to the heart of the city, and there 
invested that mite in a Bible for Harold! She bought the best 
that was possible, leaving nothing remaining for the coming 
“rainy day.” Was not her son’s life more precious to her 
than her own ? 



The Bible was quickly tucked away out of sight in one corner of his box. 

(13) 







u 


The Marked Bible 


What a really wonderful Bible that was when Mrs. Wilson 
had completed in it her beautiful design! From Genesis to 
Revelation she marked, with great care, those passages which 
she believed would one day appeal to the heart of her boy. 
Just what texts and just what markings entered into the plan 
may not be told here; but suffice it to say that only a wise, 
loving, praying mother could ever have thought out and exe¬ 
cuted so splendid a soul-winning idea. 

Without doing violence to the sacredness of a mother’s 
secret, it may be stated that two great principles were em¬ 
phasized,— faith in Jesus as a complete Saviour, and obedi¬ 
ence to all His commandments. Mrs. Wilson had learned 
that Jesus is the only Messiah of the Scriptures; that it was 
He who created the world; who spoke through prophets; who 
conversed with patriarchs; who gave the law on Sinai; who 
led Israel into the promised land; who walked and talked 
with Adam, with Enoch, with Noah, with Abraham, with 
Moses, with David. She understood that He was “the Lamb 
slain from the foundation of the world,” and that therefore 
before the time of Calvary as well as after, men were saved 
through Him. To her, the whole Bible was a Jesus-book, one 
story of the Friend of sinners. 

When Harold should open the Book, she wanted him to 
find Christ everywhere throughout the story, to hear His 
voice, to know His love, and then to render Him service. 

It was only natural^ in view of this, that she made particu¬ 
larly prominent the claims of the Ten Commandments. If 
Christ had spoken them, and then had died that they might he 
written in man's heart, were they not vital to salvation ? Thus 
the twentieth chapter of Exodus was made as it were the pivot 
of her whole appeal to her son to yield to Jesus Christ. 

Her own message, written on the flyleaf, and accidentally 
stained with a tear that fell as she wrote, was this: 

“My Darling Boy,— 

“I love you. I shall always love you. But there is One who 
loves you infinitely more than I, and that One is Jesus. You 
do not love Him now; but I am praying that you may be 
brought to see how good He is, and be led to yield yourself to 
Him. This Book is from Him and from me. Please read it 
for His sake and for mine. Its promises are all sure; and as 
you take them into your heart, they will make you new and 


A Rebellious Son, a Mother’s Love 


15 


clean and strong and victorious. You will then be supremely 
happy; you will be a blessing to others; you will rejoice the 
heart of the Friend who died; and some day, not long hence, 
you will meet me where there will be no more parting. 


^Lovingly, 


“Mother.” 


The marked Bible waited in secret until almost the last 
moment before Harold’s leave-taking; and then, when he was 
absent on an errand, it was quickly tucked away out of sight 
in one corner of his box. 

“Good-by, mother!” 

Mrs. Wilson had just completed her morning devotions, 
and was braced for the parting. 

“Good-by, my dearest,” she said; and putting her arms 
around Harold’s neck, she gave him a long farewell embrace. 
The tears wanted to come; but she had determined on another 
course, and a smile of peace wreathed her face instead. 

She whispered into his ear a mother’s secret wish; but 
without response, he hurried away. 





The Yokohama, with Harold Wilson aboard, put out through the Golden Gate 

for Melbourne. 

( 16 ) 











CHAPTER II 


A Godly Sea Captain’s Answered Prayer 

I T was a bright May morning when the Yokohama, with 
Harold Wilson aboard as an ordinary deck hand, put out 
through the Golden Gate for Melbourne. It was a day of 
gloom to Harold. Notwithstanding the apparent bravado of 
his hardened life, down deep in his heart there was a some¬ 
thing akin to boyhood tenderness, which he could not throw 
aside. 

As the great vessel, responding to her mighty propeller, 
gained in momentum and was quickly finding her way out 
into the great Pacific, and the shores of the homeland began 
to fade from view, there came to Harold, for the first time in 
many years, a partial consciousness of the value of a mother. 
He could not explain why; but now that she was no longer 
within reach, no longer where he could realize her presence, 
she began to assume a different appearance to his mind’s eye. 
After all, she was beautiful; and could he have made the wake 
of the vessel a path for returning, he would gladly have 
jumped overboard and hastened home. 

Of course, this feeling was only temporary; yet jt showed 
that the time was not altogether past when a mother’s love 
appealed to this son’s affections. And it was this tender spot 
which a great Providence was to touch, and through which 
it would work to cause Harold Wilson to forsake his sins. 

The tear that stole its way to the young man’s cheek was 
quickly brushed away, and he resolutely strove to drown all 
thought of a mother’s prayers and the purpose for which they 
were offered. He said to himself, “Be game, old man, and 
don’t play the baby!” And surely he seemed to succeed in 
his determination to forget. 

Harold Finds the Bible 

The crew of the Yokohama was the usual motley group of 
different nationalities, nearly all of whom were abandoned to 
drink, profanity, and irreligion. Among them, Harold was 
a “hail fellow well met.” 

“Hello! What’s this f” Harold was in search of a needed 
garment; and as he pulled it from his sailor’s chest, a package 
fell to the floor. 


18 


The Marked Bible 


“I never saw this before,” he exclaimed, and hastily re¬ 
moved the wrapper. 

“A Bible! A Bible! And did mother think me such an 
idiot that I would stand for such nonsense? But, say, it’s a 
dandy book. I wonder what it cost. My! but this is funny! 
Harold Wilson, a common drunk, and a thief besides, having 
a Bible at sea! I guess I’ll ask for the job of preaching to 
the boys.” 

He opened the book, “just to see how a Bible looks inside”; 
and there, in the familiar writing of his good mother, were 
the words, “My Darling Boy.” A tump came into his throat. 
For an instant, he was transported back to his childhood, and 
he saw himself in his innocence, enjoying the endearing words 
which for so long a time now he had professed to spurn. 
Again a tear, an unwelcome tear, made its way down his 
cheek. Instinctively he turned his face, lest the eye of some 
fellow sailor should discover his weakness. 

But he could not resist the reading of the mother’s mes¬ 
sage written on the flyleaf. Nor did he lay the book down — 
rather, throw it down — until he had glanced through its 
pages, and discovered the markings of his tender mother’s 
hand. Not only were passages marked, but in connection, 
written in the margin, were words of truth and admonition 
which only his mother could ever have penned. 

“I don’t want this thing,” he cried out. “Must I be haunted 
by this miserable stuff wherever I go ?” and throwing the book 
into the box, he slammed down the cover, and “turned in” 
for the night. 

A Fire at Sea 

About a month had passed, and a hard month indeed it 
had been. The journey had been made through rough seas, 
and on more than one occasion there had been imminent 
danger of shipwreck and a grave in the deep. More than one 
man aboard had avowed that if he could once again reach land, 
he would lead a different life. (How often troubles lead men 
to think, at least, of better things!) And now a fire broke out 
in the hold. 

The Yokohama had aboard a heavy consignment of kero¬ 
sene oil, and a fire meant almost certain death to all on board. 
A strong force of fire fighters was therefore set to work in a 
frantic effort to smother the flames before they should reach 
the cargo of oil. 



‘I don’t want this thing. 


Must I be haunted by this miserable stuff wherever I go?” 

( 19 ) 



20 


The Marked Bible 


Captain Mann, in charge of the vessel, was a Christian, a 
person of few words, and a man whose personality commanded 
the respect and even the admiration of his men. He was cour¬ 
teous, brave, temperate, refined, a striking exception to the 
rank and file of the crew that manned the ship. For more 
than thirty years, he had been in command at sea; but this was 
his first experience with a burning vessel. 

The cry of “Fire !” had called forth the strongest that was 
in him. Though his nature almost staggered at the peril of 
the situation, he calmly but quickly placed every man at his 
post, and every man fought with confidence because of a some¬ 
thing that Captain Mann possessed in this period of danger. 
Harold Wilson in particular took note of the spirit of courage 
and confidence shown by him. 

But suddenly the captain disappeared. And almost as 
suddenly, a new emergency compelled the first mate to call 
for his assistance. Harold Wilson was dispatched to find him. 

Livid with fear, the young man hastened to the captain’s 
room. The door stood ajar. He was about to call out his 
message, when a voice from within checked him. What was 
it he heard? 

It was the voice of prayer! 

To make certain, he pushed the door a bit farther open, 
and, lo, there was the captain on his knees, his Bible open be¬ 
fore him, his face turned upward. 

The throbbing of the engines and the general excitement 
aboard had caused Harold’s coming to be unnoticed; and thus 
the captain continued his prayer, while Harold seemed spell¬ 
bound and unable to do aught but listen. 

Captain Mann’s Prayer Answered 

The prayer touched a responsive chord. Why should it 
not? It was a prayer that the God of the Bible would ful¬ 
fill His promise, and save the lives of the crew; and Harold 
Wilson was one whose life was in the balance. For the first 
time in his career, he was glad to see a praying man. 

Captain Mann’s Bible refuge was Psalm 107: 23-31. This 
assurance was his comfort now. Whether storm or fire, it 
mattered not; God would bring them “out of their distresses,” 
“unto their desired haven.” This was the promise which 
Harold Wilson heard Captain Mann plead. 



There was the captain on his knees, his Bible open before him, his face 

turned upward, 

( 21 ) 










22 


The Marked Bible 


But strange to say, Psalm 107: 23-31 was one of the pas¬ 
sages Mrs.- Wilson had marked in the Bible given her son. 

Was the captain’s prayer to be answered ? 

Harold had only a moment to wait, for Captain Mann was 
soon on his feet and hastening back to his perilous duty. 
Harold made known his message, and also rushed again to 
his post. 

The fire had been gaining headway rapidly, despite the 
most heroic resistance. The vessel seemed doomed. In a few 
minutes, the vast cargo of oil must ignite, and then all would 
be over. 

But now a great explosion took place. The closed hatches 
were almost blown from the deck. The crew were terror- 
stricken, not knowing but the oil was already in the grip of 
the fire. 

What had happened ? — Ah, one of those providential 
things which only the Christian can understand. A large 
steam pipe had burst, and was now pouring an immense vol¬ 
ume of superheated water and steam into the hold, and at 
the very point of greatest danger. An unseen hand had as¬ 
sumed control; and very soon the volumes of black smoke 
gave place to clouds of white steam, and the fighters knew that 
the salvation of the ship was assured. 

So wonderful did it all seem, that the crew were not slow 
to express their astonishment and gratitude. 

“Do yez belave, captain, that the Big Mon had somethin’ 
to do with it?” inquired a rough Irishman, Pat Moran by 
name. 

Captain Mann had perhaps erred in his views regarding 
religious life, in that he held it unnecessary to talk to his men 
about Christianity, but rather allowed them to discover what 
they could about his ideas from what he actually lived before 
them. 

But now he was drawn out to confess his faith. 

“Men,” said he, “that steam pipe was broken by the hand 
of the Almighty. It did not merely ‘happen.’ There is a 
God who hears and answers prayer. He has promised to help 
men who go to sea, and to-day He has kept His word.” 

Harold’s marked Bible, like an unwelcome spirit, seemed 
to haunt him as he listened. 

“But say, captain, do yez railly belave what yer sayin’?” 
again spoke Pat. 


% 



Taking the Bible, he impetuously threw it far out into the sea. 


(23) 





24 


The Marked Btble 


“Ah, my boy, I have believed for many long years.” 

“But where did yez get the idee ? Where has the Big Mon 
told yez that He would take care of us poor lunatics ?” 

“Pat, I had a good mother, who taught me to pray to God 
up in heaven. She taught me, also, to read the Bible, the 
Book that God helped good men to write. In that Book, He 
tells us that we all belong to Him, that we are to obey Him, 
and that He will take care of us. He says He will save men 
who are in trouble while traveling the seas. Did you never 
see a Bible, Pat ?” 

“Shure, an’ I niver did,” he exclaimed; “but, belave me, 
I would like to put the eye of me on such a wurruk.” 

His Mother’s Influence Follows Him 

Again Harold Wilson was ill at ease. A good mother, a 
God, a Bible, an answered prayer,— all these thoughts were 
as goads, which hurt, and which hurt deeply. Had he not a 
good mother ? Had she not taught him to believe in God and 
to pray ? Had she not often appealed to him to read the Bible 
and to obey its precepts? — Yes, all this and much more. 

Pat Moran, and others at this time off duty, accepted 
Captain Mann’s invitation to go to his room and look at the 
promise which that day had saved the lives of all on board. 
Harold went with them. 

The Bible lay open on the table near the door. 

“There, men, is the Book my mother taught me to love,” 
said the captain; “and right there is the promise which put 
out the fire and saved your lives and mine,” reading to them, 
as he spoke, the scripture which for a long time had been 
his refuge. 

Harold looked into the captain’s face. What a good face! 
How clean looking, and how free from coarseness! Honesty, 
sincerity, nobility, were to be traced in every furrow. And 
this was a man of the Bible; a practical, helpful, whole-hearted 
sea captain. 

There could be no doubt that here was a demonstration of 
the truth of Christianity, and it most powerfully appealed to 
all those hardened men who that evening stood in the captain’s 
room. It appealed to Harold. Would he yield? 

A storm of conflicting emotions raged in his breast. Al¬ 
ternately he inclined to good and to evil, 


A Godly Sea Captain’s Answered Prayer 


25 


Quickly filling his mouth with a chew of plug tobacco, he 
hastened from the room to his own part of the vessel, and 
nervously throwing open his box, he snatched up the Bible 
given him by his mother, and tried to find the verses that the 
captain had just read. He finally found them. 

In the margin, he read these words from his mother’s pen: 
“I shall ever pray that this promise may be your refuge at 
sea, to save you from storm or accident.” 

He closed the book, and angrily threw it down — angry 
to think that he had not succeeded in getting beyond the reach 
of his mother’s influence. The entire experience was as a 
nightmare. 

But again he was impelled to seize the book, and make note 
of this and that passage which he had once read, and which 
were now underscored for his benefit. The last that attracted 
his attention was Exodus 20: 8-11; and here was written in 
the margin: “Honor all God’s commandments, and especially 
the fourth. It means the presence of God in your soul, a power 
to keep you upright.” 

Now to Harold Wilson, his mother’s rest day had always 
been most detestable. He despised the thought of sacred time. 
He actually hated the restrictions it placed upon him. 

No sooner, therefore, did he see this text and its accom¬ 
panying statement, than he felt within him all the old-time 
antagonism and bitterness; and giving way to all his pent-up 
wrath, he sprang to his feet with a curse on his lips, and tak¬ 
ing the Bible to the open door, he impetuously threw it far 
out into the sea. 

“There, that ends this whole cursed business,” he mut¬ 
tered; and then, imagining that he had performed a praise¬ 
worthy act, he sauntered out on deck. 




CHAPTER III 

Sad News from Home — Fighting Against God 

mother, mother!” Harold Wilson stood in the post 
office at Honolulu, holding in his hand a letter sent 
by an old friend in California. It read as follows: 

“Friend Harold: 

“We have been hoping for several weeks for your return 
home. We had heard indirectly that you were on the way 
home, and we were encouraged to believe you might come in 
time to be a support to your mother during her last illness. 

“Several weeks ago she had a hard fall, superinducing 
pneumonia. She made a brave fight; but her anxiety over you, 
coupled with financial reverses, proved too much for her, and 
she passed away last Thursday. 

“Her last request was that I should write to you, and urge 
you not to forget the gift she placed in your box the day you 
left home. You will know, of course, to what she referred. 
She did not tell me its nature, but she did say that it took all 
she had in the world to get it for you. 

“By the way, my boy, since you left us, I have changed 
my whole course of life. No more drinking, gambling, or pro¬ 
fanity for me. I am a Christian now and am enjoying life 
wonderfully. 

“God bless you! Don’t be discouraged over your great loss. 
Live for Christ, and you will meet her again. 

“I am sending this to Honolulu at a venture. 

“Your one-time friend in booze, but now free, 

“Howard Huffman.” 

Yes, Harold had been working his way homeward. For 
many years he had been absent, during which time he had seen 
much of the world, visiting Australia, China, South Africa, 
South America, and Europe. 

He had continued his hard life of drink and profanity, but 
always planning to do better when he saw his mother again. 
He had thrown overboard his beautiful Bible, in order to 
silence the voice of the Reprover; but never once had he seen 
a day of peace. Somehow the heartless ingratitude of that 
( 26 ) 


Sad News from Home—Fighting Against God 27 

moment when his anger caused him to destroy his mother’s 
gift, had become a nemesis, which seemed to trail his every 
step and to bring him only defeat and failure in all he 
undertook. 

Honolulu was “almost home” to him, and his- heart was 
already beginning to enjoy a foretaste of the blessed reunion 
with mother. Like the prodigal of the Scripture, he had for¬ 
mulated his confession; and he was confident that, restored 
to his mother, he should be able to “make good.” 

One may easily understand, therefore, what were his feel¬ 
ings as the letter from home was placed in his hands — 
feelings of deep heart satisfaction. 

But how cruel was the disappointment! The words, “She 
passed away last Thursday,” fell upon his soul as a bolt of 
lightning from out the blue. He was stunned. The letter fell 
from his grasp. 

“Oh, mother, mother!” he cried, forgetting that all around 
him were strangers from whom he must hide his grief. And 
then under his breath he said, “You wanted to help me, you 
could have helped me; but now you’re gone, gone, g-o-n-e.” 

His Grief Drove Him Downward 

He picked up the missive, and hurried into the street, and 
down to the launch that was to convey him to his vessel. 

“Harold Wilson, what will you do now? Will you be a 
man, as you ought to be, or will you absolutely and perhaps 
forever throw yourself away?” Such were the questions that 
some good spirit whispered in his ear as he boarded the ship, 
which was to sail next day. 

The answer was at once forthcoming; but, sad to say, it 
was an answer dictated by his lower nature. 

As with many others, inability on Harold’s part to carry 
out his plan made him desperate and ofttimes apparently ir¬ 
responsible. He had been acknowledging the existence of God, 
and he had planned that when with his mother, he would lead 
a better life. But this thwarting of plans angered him, and 
he now determined to go deeper into wickedness than ever 
before. 

“There is no God. If there is, He is only a brute, and I 
hate Him. He hates me, because He robs me of my mother 


28 


The Marked Bible 


at the very time I need her. Oh, Ill show Him, if He lives, 
that Harold Wilson can outdo Him. If He won’t let me do 
right, why, I’ll do my best at doing wrong.” 

And surely it seemed that from that day forward, he suc¬ 
ceeded in fitting his life to his resolution; for upon reaching 
San Francisco, he abandoned himself to a course of riotous 
pleasure, licentiousness, and crime. His companions were of 



Harold Wilson, a Sailor, 
Held as a Suspect 

Police Sure They Have the 
Right Man, an Old 
Criminal 


Harold Wilson,, a sailor, was taken into 
custody last nigh^^sbeingan acci^olice 


the baser elements of the city, versed in the business of law¬ 
breaking, even to the extent of staining their hands with the 
blood of their fellow men. 

Suspected of Murder 

Howard Huffman, the writer of the message sent to Hono¬ 
lulu, picked up the morning Chronicle. As he glanced over 
the headings, his eye was held by the following: 

“Murder in the Mission District. Harold Wilson, a Sailor, 
Held as a Suspect. Police Sure They Have the Right Man, 
an Old Criminal.” 

Mr. Huffman paled and dropped his paper. “An old 
criminal.” Yes, he knew it to be true; for in that robbery of 








Sad News from Home — Fighting Against God 29 

many years before, he himself had been associated. And now 
Harold had returned to continue his course in crime. What 
should he do ? 

Fearing to breathe to his young wife the cause of his agi¬ 
tation, he hurriedly donned his coat and hat and left the house. 

The Huffman home was now recognized as one of the hap¬ 
piest as well as one of the finest in the city of Oakland. Mr. 
Huffman was well known throughout the city as a man of 
sterling integrity and large business acumen, and prosperity 
had smiled upon him from the first day that he turned his feet 
to the way of Christianity. The past had been forgotten, but 
not until Mr : . Huffman had made restitution, so far as he 
could, for everything he had ever taken from a fellow man. 
He had gone to the man whose home he and Harold Wilson 
had entered, and confessed his part, and paid back, with com¬ 
pound interest, the money he had taken. 

Why, then, should he be anxious ? — Ah, for Harold’s 
sake! He had trusted that God would help him to redeem 
his old pal in sin, and lead him to be a fellow worker in right¬ 
eousness. But Harold had come, had fallen even lower; and 
perhaps the uncorrected and unforgiven past, now coming to 
light, would serve to defeat the purpose he had in mind. 

Reaching San Francisco, Mr. Huffman hastened to the 
police station, and asked to interview the prisoner; and his 
name gave him easy access. 

What a picture met his gaze as he looked upon his com¬ 
panion of former years! Brutality seemed stamped upon 
every feature. But the adage, “So long as there’s life, there’s 
hope,” buoyed him up; and with loving interest, he sought to 
have Harold understand that he still trusted him, and would 
stand by him in this hour of need. 

Inquiry revealed the fact that Harold had not actually 
had a part in the murder, yet the circumstances were such as 
to cause the hand of the law to be laid heavily upon him. 
Howard Huffman now endeavored to lighten the penalty. 

The story of the steps he took to secure his end need not 
be given. Suffice it here to say that Harold Wilson received 
freedom only on condition that he leave the country for five 
years, and with the admonition that when he should return, 


30 


The Marked Bible 


it must be with a recommendation of good behavior from his 
employers. 

These conditions made him almost “a man without a coun¬ 
try ,” and they seemed hard indeed to meet; but through 
Howard Huffman’s encouragement, he determined to try. 

He secured a position as common sailor on the Tenyo Maru, 
which sailed from San Francisco to Yokohama one week later; 
but little did he suspect that the captain of that vessel was his 
old friend, Captain Mann, of the trip of many years before. 

Another Marked Bible 

Harold left the Huffman home in Oakland for San Fran¬ 
cisco, where his ship lay at the wharf, ready to leave on the 
morrow. As he passed into the waiting room at the Oakland 
mole, he observed a ‘‘Free Literature” distributor, in one re¬ 
ceptacle of which was a Bible; and seeing it, he was struck 
with its likeness to the one his mother had given him. 

Taking the good book from its place, he opened it, and, lo, 
found it to be marked! And it was not only marked, but 
marked much as the other had been marked! 

Forgetting all else,— forgetting that he was waiting for 
the ferry boat, that he was a man banished because of crime, 
and that he was an almost helpless wreck of humanity,-—he 
sank into a seat, and for a long hour he searched back and 
forth through that Bible. Yes, many of the same texts were 
marked; and opposite the message of Exodus 20:8-11 were 
these words written in the margin: “God’s blessing upon the 
Sabbath is His presence in the Sabbath. He who keeps Sab¬ 
bath has God’s presence in the heart; and all who have His 
presence will delight to keep Sabbath. Isaiah 58:13.” How 
much this sounded like his mother! And there was Psalm 
107:23-31 marked with red ink, the only text marked in red 
by his dear mother. 

He was deeply stirred. A tear stole down his cheek. A 
vision of a new life floated before him. And in it all, his 
mother spoke again, and the Christ she loved made His appeal 
to a lost soul. 

“This Bible! 0 mother, may I take it with me ? How 

can I go without it ? It was marked for me. Surely it must 
have been. Mother, did you mark this Bible too ?” He spoke 
thus to himself aloud. 



■ji&workfl with ~ 

;JSP*i§ They that go down to thesea 


in ships, that do business in great 


2 ! These see the works of the Lori>. 
and his wonders in ttuTdeep . 

25 For he comma pdeth, and l '- 'raia- 
eth the stormy wind, whlcfTTifteth 


the waves thereof. 


'26 They mount up to th^ he aven, 
they go down again to the~depths: 


h their"soul is melted because of 


trouble! 


Tike a drunken man, and 5 are 


r. 8,21,31. 
US. 2. 
fcji.3. 38. 
Kf-I. 20. 
22 . 

*13 ; 


28 “ then they cry unto the Lord 


in their trouble, and he~~5ringet£ 


them outToTtheir distresses! 

29. * Ho maketh the storm a calm, 
so thatthe waves thereof are stiff! 


30 Then are they glad becausethey 


•a *30 2 - be quiet; so he bnheeffa them'unto 
Lg '33 ^ their desired haven. 

[jL ’ 31 f Oh that men would praise the 
Lord' for his goodness, and f or~his 


wond erful works to the children of 


men 


exalt him alsoJJUjrthe 


And there was Psalm 107:23-31 marked with red ink, the only text marked in red 

by his dear mother. 

( 31 ) 








































32 


The Marked Bible 


“Friend”—a voice spoke from behind—“take the book. 
It was marked for you. Take it, and God bless you with a 
knowledge of its truth, and give you a Christian life.” 

Startled and embarrassed, Harold turned himself, but only 
to be comforted. The kind face of a father and friend beamed 
upon him. 

He quickly arose, and addressing the stranger, said: “Do 
you mean it, sir ? May I have this Bible ? But, sir, I have no 
money with which to pay for it.” 

“That matters nothing, my friend. I represent a people 
who love God’s word, and who are seeking to carry its truth 
to the whole world. They will be happy to know that this 
book is keeping company with one in need. But what did you 
mean by referring to another marked Bible? — Pardon my 
overhearing.” 

He was in the company of a true friend; and with broken¬ 
ness of heart, he told the whole sad story of his battle against 
his mother, the Bible, and God, and particularly how he had 
thrown into the sea the sacred gift of his mother’s sacrifice 
and love. 

Only a brief interview was possible; but during the few 
minutes that the two men spent together, Harold Wilson 
caught a glimpse of the plan of salvation. He saw God’s law 
in its completeness. He saw sin as its transgression. He saw 
Christ as the One who redeems from the curse. 

A word of prayer was offered for Harold by that friend 
and father — a prayer which he would never forget. Espe¬ 
cially did he take to heart this sentence: “Give him rest, Lord, 
from all evil habits.” Of course, it seemed a strange idea, but 
only to be the longer remembered. 

“On what vessel do you sail, young man?” asked the old 
gentleman as they were parting. 

“The Tenyo Maru, sir.” 

“Ah, that is interesting! She sails to-morrow. Some 
friends of mine have engaged passage on her, and you must 
be sure to meet them.” 

With the treasured Bible in his grip, Harold was soon 
aboard the ferry. Great experiences were in store for him. 



The Tenyo Maru had just slipped her cables, and was gliding out into San 

Francisco Bay. 

(33) 


2 











CHAPTER IV 


On the Upward Way 

“ A LMOST eight years,” thought Harold, "eight years, al- 
most to a day, since I left here on the Yokohama for 
Melbourne!” 

The Tenyo Maru had just slipped her cables, and was 
gliding out into San Francisco Bay, on her long journey 
to Japan. 

"How well I remember that May morning of eight years 
ago, when, a drunkard, a criminal, a hardened and unhappy 
wretch, I went to sea to escape justice, and to rid myself of 
mother’s pleadings! 

"How well I remember the something that made me want 
to go back to home and mother, that something which I fought 
off until I cared for nothing but drink, profanity, and evil 
company! 

"And how vividly I recall the day of the fire, when I found 
Captain Mann praying, asking God to deliver us from ex¬ 
plosion and death! 

"Yes, and I remember all too well that hateful minute 
when I threw my Bible overboard. 0 God, help me! Why 
did I do it? I wish I could forget it. 

"Now I am starting on another trip, not because I wish, 
but because I must. I am compelled to leave America, to 
remain away until I have demonstrated that I am a man worth 
trusting. But I have no mother, and no friends, I guess. 

"No friends? Yes, I have one — I have that Bible. It 
seems like mother to me. I just feel, somehow, that it is 
going to help me to be a better man. 

"That old man at the pier was a good man. He seemed 
to understand me. When he prayed, something gripped my 
heart; and when he told me I could take the Bible with me, 
I made up my mind really to try to be decent. I really 
thought I could be. 

"But he certainly did say some funny things. I never 
heard anything like them before. Yes, yes, I did. I remem¬ 
ber that mother used to tell me that we ought to keep the 
Ten Commandments, all of them. And she said she didn’t 
“(34) 


On the Upward Way 


35 


understand why it was that Christian people kept Sunday 
when the commandments say we should observe the seventh 
day. But that old gentleman actually keeps the day mother 
thought people ought to keep. 

“The queer thing about this whole business is the Bible he 
gave me. In the first place, it looks like the one I threw away; 
and besides, it is marked almost the same — the same texts, 
the same kind of ink, explanations in the margin, and a mes¬ 
sage written on the flyleaf. But — 

“What’s that!” He now spoke aloud. 

From the thoughts of his important duties (he had been 
assigned a position on the main deck, forward), and from 
the reflections regarding his past life, he had suddenly been 
aroused by a voice, which seemed like a ghost of times long 
since gone. 

He glanced back, but, seeing no one, concluded he must 
have been mistaken. 

But again he heard it! And this time, he looked toward 
the bridge. There stood Captain Mann! 

Captain Mann Warns Harold 

Yes, it was the same old captain, the hero of the Yoko¬ 
hama, and now in command of the great transpacific pas¬ 
senger liner. 

Harold Wilson was almost overcome with emotion. His 
heart palpitated with joy. Deep in his heart there was a 
something which seemed to tell him that during this journey 
across the sea, he was to learn the secret of a better life, 
and that the man of prayer on the bridge had been given, to 
aid him. 

It was several days before the opportunity came to the 
young man to meet and greet the man he so much revered. 
But duty finally brought them into contact, and Harold fairly 
rushed to grasp the captain’s hand. 

“Captain Mann! Thank God for the chance to sail with 
you again!” 

The captain’s big, whole-hearted hand gladly grasped 
Harold’s, reciprocating fully the spirit of good will evinced; 
but his face wore a puzzled look. 


36 


The Marked Bible 


“My young man, why do,you thank God? When I knew 
you, you had no regard for God.” 

“Yes, captain; but I have fought long enough what I know 
is right. I want to find God, and know Him, just as you did 
that day the fire broke out on the Yokohama. I want to know 
and serve Him just as my mother did. Do you remember the 
talk you gave us about the Bible and its promises?” 

“Yes, young man, I recall the whole experience. But I 
have no memory that you got any good from it.” 

“That is true, captain; for that very day, I went and hate¬ 
fully threw into the sea the Bible my dear mother gave me. 
And she had marked it for me, too. Do you know, she had 
marked in it that very verse that you said saved us from 
the fire! 

“But, Captain Mann, I have another Bible, and one that 
is marked. That verse in the Psalms is marked, the Ten 
Commandments are marked, yes, and a great number of 
other texts!” 

“Where did you find such a Bible, my boy?” the captain 
kindly inquired. 

Then Harold told the sad story of his mother’s death, his 
abandonment to sin, his arrest, his sentence, and the discov¬ 
ery of the Bible, and the meeting with the old gentleman at 
the Oakland pier. 

“Oh, yes,” said the captain, “I know of that gentleman. 
He belongs to a very peculiar people, who keep Saturday 
instead of Sunday; and he has placed in the reading room 
of this vessel a large number of papers and leaflets for the 
benefit of our passengers and crew.” 

■ “Well, captain, he found me reading the Bible at the pier; 
and when he saw that I was longing for it, he let me bring 
it with me. I tell you, he was the best man I ever met. He 
understood me. And when I told him how far down I had 
gone, he had a little tear for me, and prayed that I might 
find deliverance from all my wrong habits, and have rest in 
Christ. What he said to me seemed to open up the whole 
plan of right living, and I made up my mind to try to be a 
better man. And I want you to help me, captain.” 

“I certainly will do my best to aid you to become a Chris¬ 
tian; but I fear I shall not be able to help you to believe as 
that old gentleman believes, for I think he is wrong about the 


On the Upward Way 


37 



keeping of Saturday. There are a number of his people 
aboard the vessel, though — missionaries to China; and they 
will help you. But look out, my boy, and don’t go wild.” 

With these few words, the captain passed on, while the 
subject of this story continued his duties. But many queries 
began to arise in his mind. 

“What did he mean by saying they are wrong ? How are 
they peculiar? And how could I get ‘wild’ by meeting them 
and having them help me? I don’t believe that old gentle¬ 
man would ever make anybody wild.” Thus Harold reasoned 
to himself. 











CHAPTER Y 


A Real Missionary 

T HE Tenyo Maru had been plowing her way through the 
waters for quite a week, when one day a pleasant looking 
man came up to Harold, and without introduction, very kindly 
asked him if he was a Christian. This was the first time in 
all his life that such a question had been brought home to 
him. But though greatly astonished, Harold was pleased to 
be thus directly questioned. 

“No, sir/ 7 he replied, “I am not; but I am just now think¬ 
ing I ought to be. And what is your name, sirf 7 
“My name is Anderson. 77 

“Are you one of the missionaries going to China, sir? 77 
“Yes; and why do you ask? 77 

“Well, Captain Mann has told me that there were mis¬ 
sionaries aboard, and I have been wanting to see one of them 
and ask some questions. You see, I have with me a Bible 
given me by an old gentleman at Oakland pier. This Bible 
is marked. It is marked almost the same as one my Christian 
mother gave me, but which I threw into the sea because I 
hated Christianity. The marking therefore takes me back to 
my old home, to things my mother said, and I want some 
one to help me know how to begin a true Christian life. 77 

“Is your name Wilson, my young friend, 77 the gentleman 
inquired, “Harold Wilson? 77 

“Yes, sir; but how did you learn my name? 77 
“It is a rather strange story, but I will tell you. A few 
days before I left Oakland, I saw in a San Francisco paper 
the report of a certain trial, that of a young man by the name 
of Wilson, who had been sentenced, because of some wrong¬ 
doing, to a five-year absence from the country. The reporter 
made note of various extenuating circumstances, of a good 
mother’s dying prayer, and of the hope of strong, good friends, 
that the young man would turn and become an honor to his 
parents, both of whom had devotedly given him to God. It 
was stated that the young man would have a position aboard 
(38) 


A Real Missionary 


39 


the Tenyo Maru, the vessel on which I was to make my trip 
to the Orient; and I determined to try to meet him and help 
him as I could.” 

His Mother’s Pastor 

Harold carefully eyed this new friend; for had not Cap¬ 
tain Mann cautioned him against being led off into wild 
notions? Yet Mr. Andersoh had a good face, a sincere ex¬ 
pression, and apparently unselfish interest. And, really, it 
seemed to Harold that it was more than a mere happening 
that he had been led to meet him. 

“You did not know my mother, did you? She was a great 
believer in doing just what the Bible says, and was always 
urging me to follow it. She lived in San Francisco.” 

“Was her first name Helen?” Mr. Anderson inquired. 

“Yes, yes! Did you know her?” 

“My boy, your mother was a member of my church. As 
her pastor, I have more than once heard her tell of her wan¬ 
dering child, and of her constant prayer that he would one 
day become acquainted with the Lord Jesus. She told of the 
Bible she had purchased, of the message she had written, of 
the texts she had marked, of the explanation she had placed 
in the margins. She believed it would one day touch his 
heart. But for long years, she heard nothing from him, and 
finally she gave him up as lost at sea. When stricken down 
with illness, and on her deathbed, she called the old brother 
whom you met at the Oakland pier, and asked him to place 
in the distributor another Bible, marked as she had marked 
that one years before. And are you her son, Harold?” 

“Indeed I am, sir; and now I believe you have been sent 
to show me the way to Christ. Oh, Mr. Anderson, if there is 
a remedy for my follies, I want it, and I want it now! I’m a 
thief, a drunkard, a gambler, a wretch without a country, a 
sinner without a God. Can you help me?” 

The finding of Harold Wilson seemed so wonderfully beau¬ 
tiful to Mr. Anderson, so providential, so timely, that his 
faith laid hold upon the promise of God; and in a wise, tact¬ 
ful, soul-winning way, he led him to the Master’s feet. The 
surrender was complete, founded on an intelligent grasp of 
revealed truth; and the young man was happy in God. 

When the .story of Harold’s life and conversion came to be 
known, he was pointed out by both passengers and crew as 
“the man with the marked Bible.” 


40 


The Marked Bible 


Captain Mann, while a devoted Christian, was neverthe¬ 
less quite limited in his knowledge of the Word, and there¬ 
fore a bit narrow. Thus it was that he now became much 
concerned lest Harold should be deluded by the “false teach¬ 
ings” of Mr. Anderson, and especially when he learned of the 
frequent appointments Harold was making with him; and he 
sought to counteract the pastor’s influence. 

“What does this mean ?” thought Harold to himself, as he 
meditated upon Captain Mann’s opposition. “Here are two 
good men, both of whom seem honest, yet each one is certain 
that the other is wrong. I am sure Captain Mann had his 
prayers answered and saved my life, and I am sure Mr. An¬ 
derson has had his prayers answered in leading me to be a 
Christian. What shall I do ? I certainly cannot follow both, 
for they seem to be going in opposite directions. 

“But after all, I’ll do what my mother used to urge me to 
do. I’ll just have to take the Bible for myself.” 

Good sense! Few surely will miss the way of life who 
elect to follow the Word itself, rather that men. 

Another thing Harold had to settle was the comparative 
value of sincerity with knowledge of the Scriptures, and sin¬ 
cerity without knowledge of the Scriptures. Mr. Anderson 
and Captain Mann were undoubtedly equally sincere; but in 
acquaintance with the Word, they were as giant and pigmy, 
and this Harold soon recognized. He therefore could not do 
other than take the counsel of him who was “mighty in the 
Scriptures,” for his counsel was drawn from the right source. 

But if the captain lacked in knowledge, he did not lack in 
an enthusiastic interest to' see that Harold did not become 
“entangled with false ideas about the Sabbath.” It came to 
pass, however, that his very earnest efforts to save the young 
man from delusion, only hastened forward the work of truth 
which God desired to have wrought. 

“Young man” (this was the captain’s favorite form of ad¬ 
dress), “let me counsel you again to be careful about this 
matter of the day you keep.” 

“But, Captain Mann, why do you speak this way? No 
one has said anything to me about keeping Saturday.” 

“Well, you will find that Mr. Anderson will soon be telling 
you that if you are to live a Christian life, you must keep the 
day that his church keep. He will tell you that Sunday isn’t 
mentioned in the Bible, and —■” 


A Real Missionary 


41 


This was the first time Harold had ever heard this about 
Sunday; and of course, he was at once interested. He there¬ 
fore interrupted with the question: 

“Really, captain, is Sunday not spoken of in the Bible? 
I shall be glad to have you show me the matter as it is before 
Mr. Anderson gets to it, if you think best." 

“All right; come in this evening, and I will show you that 
Mr. Anderson’s church is wrong." 





CHAPTER VI 


An Embarrassed Captain 

“FT1HAT makes me think,” said Harold as the captain 
JL passed on. “I remember that he told me they had put 
aboard a supply of reading matter. I wonder if there is any¬ 
thing about Sunday. I will ask Mr. Anderson about it.” He 
found him aft. 

“Mr. Anderson, do you suppose your people have placed 
aboard this vessel, with other literature, anything about 
Sunday ?” 

“Why, yes, Harold, I presume they have. But what causes 
you to be interested about Sunday? You keep Sunday, do 
you not?” 

“Oh, yes; but you see, Captain Mann is afraid that I will 
not keep on in that way, and to-night he is going to show me 
that the Bible says Sunday is the right day. He said you 
would soon be telling me that Sunday is not mentioned in the 
Bible, and he wants to prove that it is. Of course, I think 
I should find out all I can for myself before I meet him this 
evening. What should I look for?” 

“Well, there are several little leaflets you may well read, 
such as ‘Which Day Do You Keep, and Why?’ and ‘Sunday 
in the New Testament/ I think you will find them in that 
supply. However, if you do not, come to me, and I will try 
to assist you.” 

Even Cruden Did Not List Them 

While Harold vras searching for these leaflets, Captain 
Mann had found a bit of leisure time for putting into shape 
the thoughts he would present to Harold. He thought he 
knew in general what would aid the young man, so he set 
about to find the specific texts he would use. 

It had been several years sincp the question of the Sab¬ 
bath had agitated him; and never, in fact, had he attempted 
to locate the passages in which the word “Sunday” occurred. 
He felt quite certain, though, that they were in the Gospels, 
and in the story of the resurrection. But after much careful 
searching, he did not find what he was after. 

( 42 ) 


An Embarrassed Captain 


43 


“I have probably forgotten the connections,” he said to 
himself, as he turned to his concordance. 

But even Cruden, for some reason, had overlooked the 
Sunday passages. To be sure, Cruden did not profess to give 
every word in the Bible. 

"Sunday, S-u-n-d-a-y — where did I see it ?” he said. "The 
young man will think it very strange in me to call him in here 
to do something I cannot do.” 

Then a happy thought occurred to him. "There is Mr. 
Mitchell, an old orthodox minister. I will ask him, and also 
get other helpful information.” 

The good Mr. Mitchell welcomed the captain to his state¬ 
room, pleased to be honored by a call from the now famous 
captain. 

"Pardon me, Mr. Mitchell,” the captain said, "but I am 
here to ask a personal favor. As you may know, we have on 
board, as a member of my crew, a young man who has just 
experienced a very remarkable conversion. You may have 
heard him mentioned as The man with the marked Bible.’ 
He has an interesting history. We also have aboard, as a 
passenger, a certain Rev. Mr. Anderson, of the seventh-day 
people, who seems to have this young man under his influence, 
and who, I am sure, will sooner or later seek to trouble him 
over the Sabbath matter. So I am taking an interest in the 
case. I have asked the young man to call on me this evening, 
and I have promised to show him that Sunday is the true day 
of worship. Now what I wish you to do is to put me in touch 
with all the texts in which Sunday is mentioned.” 

Had the Captain Been Deceived? 

Was it a smile, a frown, or a look of disappointment and 
chagrin that stole over Mr. Mitchell’s face as he heard the 
captain’s request? Whatever it was, it did not express 
pleasure. 

"Captain,” said he, "there are no such texts. You will 
have to acknowledge that the word ‘Sunday’ is not between 
the two lids of the Book of God.” 

"But, Mr. Mitchell, I could almost take an oath that I have 
seen it and read it.” 

"Not in the Bible, captain. You will find mention, a few 
times, of the first day of the week, but not of Sunday; and 


44 


The Marked Bible 


even the first day of the week is not spoken of as being sacred. 
You have undertaken a difficult task in attempting to show 
reasons for Sunday keeping from the Scriptures/ 5 

Though he had lived sixty years, Captain Mann had never 
heard even a hint of this which Mr. Mitchell had now so 
boldly asserted. He was shocked, if not almost stunned. It 
could not be true, he reasoned. Was he himself the deluded 
one ? He hesitated. 

Mr. Mitchell was a man of brilliant intellect. For more 
than thirty years, he had stood before the public, and he was 
known in both Occident and Orient as a fearless defender 
of the church and its work. With infidel, with atheist, with 
foe within and without the church, he had never feared to 
battle, and he had not failed to win laurels. However, he 
had always and consistently refused to enter into argument 
with the Sabbatarians, for he knew the impossibility of 
making good his case. It was only logical, therefore, that 
he addressed the captain as he did, and bluntly stated the 
truth he knew. 

Seeing that the captain had been greatly perturbed by his 
plain, matter-of-fact statement, he proceeded to explain why, 
without a “Thus saith the Lord, 55 he still observed the first 
day of the week. 

Custom the Only Basis 

“Captain, 55 he continued, “any reliable student of church 
history will tell you that there is only one foundation for our 
practice of Sunday worship, and that is the custom of the 
early church. Both Christ and His apostles, and those imme¬ 
diately associated with them, believed in and practiced the 
observance of the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath of the 
fourth commandment; and not for several hundred years after 
Christ, was there any such thing known as a sacred regard 
for Sunday as we know it to-day. The change was brought 
about gradually, through the influence of churchmen; but we 
must not suppose that they had divine sanction for it. It was 
simply the outgrowth of a change in the spirit of the times. 

“Over and over again I have had to tell my friends in 
private what I have said to you. And I have said to them 
what I must now say to you also,— that though the change 
came about in a way with which we might not really agree, 


An Embarrassed Captain 


45 


yet it came, and the only reasonable course for us to take is to 
indorse it and go ahead with God’s great church to evangelize 
the world. It is too late now to attempt a reformation. 

“And now a bit of advice: Give the matter a wide berth. 
The agitation of the question only creates many embarrassing 
situations, and gives the few who still believe in the absolute 
requirements of the moral law an opportunity to advance their 
arguments, which are practically unanswerable. I think you 
will readily see my point. Deftly turn the young man aside 
with the thought that God is love, that He has led His church 
throughout the ages, and still leads it, and that while we may 
not be able to explain all, we may safely go ahead with the 
great work of preaching Christ, and wait another time to have 
some of our queries removed. This usually satisfies, and un¬ 
doubtedly will in this case.” 

“Thank you, doctor,” was the captain’s response as he 
politely withdrew and returned to his stateroom. 

The Captain Acknowledges His Error 

Meanwhile Harold Wilson had been finding some very in¬ 
teresting material regarding the origin of Sunday observance, 
though it did not mean as much to him at that time as it did 
later. His spiritual eyes were just beginning to find an open¬ 
ing, and he saw but little. However, he was blessed by what 
he did see, and had become anxious to meet the captain and 
hear what he would say. 

Mr. Anderson smiled, yet seriously, at what the captain 
had thought to do. Thousands of equally honest and devoted 
men had attempted the same thing before, but only to find 
and obey the truth, or else plunge deeply into willing igno¬ 
rance and dishonest opposition. He was much interested to 
hear what Captain Mann would say. 

Ill at ease, indeed, was the captain; for not only had he 
been rudely awakened to the fact that he had long believed 
what was not true, but he had also been counseled by an am¬ 
bassador of Christ to practice what seemed to him a kind of 
dishonesty. He had always prized his own sincerity, and he 
would continue to do so. This was his decision: He would 
meet Harold Wilson, and acknowledge that there was no 
mention of Sunday in the Bible. Further than this he could 
not see; for he still believed, notwithstanding the minister, 
that Sunday was sacred. 


46 


The Marked Bible 


Harold came, with his Bible in his hand, with leaflets in 
his pocket, with the beginnings of truth in his soul. He 
seated himself with an air of expectancy. 

“Young man 5 ’—the captain came at once to the point — 
"I want to tell you, right at the first, that I have been mis¬ 
taken in regard to Sunday’s being mentioned in the Bible. It 
isn’t there. The first day of the week is spoken of a great 
many times, and it was this I had in mind. So I acknowledge 
my error. But my mistake does not alter the fact that the 
Lord Jesus changed the day, and that His apostles after¬ 
wards looked upon the first day of the week, the day of the 
resurrection, as the Lord’s day, and held their meetings on 
that day.” 

“How many times, captain, do you think the first day is 
mentioned ?” 

“Oh, a great many times, I should naturally suppose! Of 
course, I cannot give the exact number.” 

Harold pulled from his pocket a small leaflet, and pro¬ 
ceeded to read from it. 

“This shows that it is mentioned only eight times, and 
that in not one case is it spoken of as sacred. Maybe this 
isn’t true; but it gives the references, and asks us to look 
them up. Here they are: Matthew 28:1; Mark 16: 2, 9; 
Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; and 1 Corinthians 
16:2. Suppose we read them, captain.” 

The Eight Texts Examined 

One by one the eight passages were found and read. 

“Now, captain, you are acquainted with the Bible, and I 
am not. You must therefore let me ask a few questions, in 
order that I may find out what I want to know. So will you 
please tell me which of these references show that the first 
day of the week took the place of the seventh as the Sab¬ 
bath day?” 

Captain Mann pointed to the meeting of the apostles on 
the resurrection day, and said: “It seems clear that they were 
holding some kind of service in honor of His resurrection; 
for it says (Luke 24:36) that Jesus stood in the midst of 
them, and said, ‘Peace be unto you/ At this time, He breathed 
upon them the Holy Ghost, and sent them forth to preach 
that He was risen. Do you not think this a reasonable ex¬ 
planation ?” 


An Embarrassed Captain 


47' 


“That sounds all right, captain; but here is something you 
overlooked.” Again Harold referred to the leaflet. “I see 
here that when the disciples met that night, they were having 
their supper (Mark 16:14) ; and when Jesus came, they gave 
Him some broiled fish and some honeycomb (Luke 24:42). 
They had the doors barred for fear of the Jews. John 20:19. 
They did not believe He was risen; for when He appeared 
to them, they were terrified, thinking they saw a spirit. Luke 
24: 37. And then Christ reproved them because they believed 
not (Mark 16:14), and only said, ‘Peace be unto you/ to 
calm their fears. Besides all this, Thomas didn’t believe in 
the resurrection for a number of days later. John 20: 24-27. 

“Really, captain, they couldn’t have been celebrating the 
resurrection when they didn’t believe in it, could they ?” 

“Young man, where did you get all this? I never heard 
these things before. But I must say you seem to be right. 
I have to be honest. 

“There is another text, though, one that we read, which 
clearly teaches that the believers in the apostles’ time ob¬ 
served the first day of the week. Look at Acts 20 again. 
Here it plainly states that they met on the first day of the 
week to break bread.” 

Again the young convert turned to the leaflet in his hand, 
and then he said: “Captain, that meeting must have been on 
Saturday night, for it was on the dark part of the first day 
of the week, and the dark part of the day comes first. Genesis 
1:5, 8, etc. Paul preached until midnight because he was 
going to Assos the next morning. Acts 20: 7. Then he ate 
his supper (verse 11), talked on till daylight, and then, dur¬ 
ing the light part of Sunday, walked nineteen miles across 
the isthmus to Assos. He surely didn’t keep the day as a 
sacred day. It rather looks as though it was a special meet¬ 
ing, called at an irregular time in order to accommodate Paul, 
and the breaking of bread was to satisfy hunger rather than 
to commemorate the Lord’s death.” 

At this point, the gong sounded for change of watch, and 
Harold hastened away to duty. 

Resolves to Go to the Bottom 

Captain Mann seemed almost dazed. The thought of 
having been wrong in his ideas for so many years, and that 
a minister of the gospel had advised him to close his eyes 
to admitted errors, was almost too much for him. 


48 


The Marked Bibljj 


“Can it be/’ he said aloud to himself, “that I am wrong 
also in other things ? If I could be so entirely out of line con¬ 
cerning those simple texts regarding the resurrection, then 
it may be that in other matters not so simple I may be still 
farther away from the right. 

“Very shortly, if God permits it, I shall have another 
interview with Mr. Mitchell. I intend to get at the bottom 
of this thing.” 



CHAPTER VII 


An Embarrassed Minister 

I T was no idle resolution which Captain Mann formed when 
he determined to go again to Mr. Mitchell in order to get 
to the bottom of some of the matters that were agitating his 
mind; and after leaving Honolulu, he found his opportunity. 

The Tenyo Maru was one of the largest and finest pas¬ 
senger vessels that plied the waters of the Pacific, and the 
responsibilities of its captain were tremendous in both their 
number and their weight. There was not an hour of the day 
or of the night when he was out from under the burden of 
his vessel’s care. Nevertheless, Captain Mann was able to 
interest himself in the needs of his passengers and crew, and 
many a soul was blessed by his kindly presence and unselfish 
helpfulness. 

Never before, however, had he been so stirred by any 
question, personal or otherwise, as by this which had arisen 
over the experience of Harold Wilson. At every hour of the 
day, it pressed in upon his mind; and every day, he sought 
opportunity to investigate and pray about it. In fact, it had 
brought a crisis into his life, and he felt that he must meet it. 

For many years, he had set apart as sacred a small por¬ 
tion of each day for Bible reading and prayer. One after¬ 
noon, the hour for personal devotion having come, he was 
about to enter his stateroom, when he met Mr. Mitchell. This 
was the time, he reasoned, to carry out his purpose; and the 
two were soon seated and engaged in conversation. 

The Captain Corners the Preacher 

“Mr. Mitchell,” said the captain, “do you believe in the 
binding moral obligations of the Ten Commandments ?” 

“Yes, captain, I most certainly do.” 

“Do you indorse the idea that the Bible as a whole is the 
authoritative word of God, given by inspiration as our guide ?” 

“Most assuredly. There is no other safe position to take. 
No man who allows himself to discount any portion of the 
good old Book can meet the attacks of the atheist or the 
infidel.” 


(49) 



( 50 ) 



51 


An Embarrassed Minister 

“Pardon me, doctor; but may I ask then, pointedly, how 
you harmonize this view with your statement of yesterday 
that we would better ignore the question of the Sabbath and 
go on quietly in the keeping of Sunday, though admitting 
there is no Bible foundation for doing so? It seems to me 
you play fast and loose.” 

“Well, captain, when I say that I believe in the binding 
moral obligations of the Ten Commandments, I must except 
the fourth, for this is not moral in the same sense as are the 
other nine. The claims of the Sabbath commandment are 
satisfied just as fully by a setting apart of the first day of the 
week as of the seventh. The time feature of the fourth com¬ 
mandment is not necessarily moral.” 

“Mr. Mitchell,” said the captain very earnestly, “do you 
mean to tell me that concrete terms, such as ‘The seventh day 
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do 
any work/ are not necessarily moral? Has God no power to 
incorporate moral principle in the specific and limiting word 
‘seventh’ ? 

Any Minute Will Not Do 

“Let me illustrate my point: I have under me a large 
force of men manning this vessel. For the safety of all 
aboard, I am required to hold frequent fire drills, and I issue 
orders to the engineer to blow the fire whistle at twelve o’clock 
sharp Tuesday noon. Having done this, I arrange all my 
plans accordingly, making everything fit in to a particular 
minute. Supremely important is that minute to me, to my 
crew, to my passengers, and to my company. And that en¬ 
gineer is under solemn contract to carry out my instructions, 
whether or not my reasons are known or understood. In 
such case, you are bound to admit that a moral obligation, of 
which time is almost the entire value, is binding an inferior 
to obey his superior. And you will not even hint that the 
engineer or anyone else may reasonably or rightly decide that 
some other minute will fulfill my purpose. 

“The fourth commandment is the commandment of all 
the ten, it seems to me, most vitally charged with moral prin¬ 
ciple, because of its specific time element. You see, men may 
differ over such matters as what constitutes a lie, or what is 
comprehended in hatred, or what is profanity; but they 
simply cannot argue over the meaning of such a term as 
‘seventh.’ 


52 


The Marked Bible 


“Why, Mr. Mitchell, I was taught this by my mother; and 
all my life, I have found in the Sabbath commandment my 
strong fortress of absolute integrity. It has been righteous¬ 
ness expressed in figures, and figures are not very often 
found lying. 

“Of course, I have always believed that when Jesus came, 
He made a change in the figures, and gave us the first day 
instead of the seventh. And this did not trouble me, for I 
believed that He who said ‘seventh 7 in olden time, had a right 
to say ‘first 7 in later time, just as I would have a right to 
change from noon on Tuesday to noon on Wednesday. Be¬ 
lieving that I was morally bound to take His word at face 
value, I have kept the first day of the week all my life, in¬ 
stead of the seventh; and I shall continue to do so. 

“But you are the first one to tell me that no moral value 
attaches to.the matter of time. You are the first minister to 
put forth the idea that the fourth commandment is an ex¬ 
ception, and that in a sense it is unmoral. The whole Bible is 
inspired, yet you permit your human reasoning to nullify a 
portion of the only words directly spoken by God Himself to 
the human ear. 

“Again I beg your pardon; but let me suggest this query: 
If, as you say, the Bible is the authoritative word of God; if 
the Ten Commandments are unchangeably-binding in their 
moral claims; if neither Jesus Christ nor His apostles made 
a change in the day of the Sabbath; if the observance of Sun¬ 
day rests only on early custom,— if all these things be true, 
then are you and I not under solemn covenant obligation to 
keep the fourth commandment? 

“Mr. Mitchell, I did not accept your counsel of yesterday; 
and when I met the young man last evening, I was con¬ 
strained to acknowledge myself mistaken. No man who 
recognizes that his soul is at stake in this great life game will 
ever knowingly do evil that good may come. 

“I am still hoping to get hold of my evidences that at the 
cross, a new era was introduced, and that since that time, the 
followers of Christ, under the new covenant, are to honor 
‘the Lord’s day, 7 the day of the resurrection. But mark this: 
If I find that in this too I have been mistaken, and that the 
Bible is silent concerning a change of the time of the Sabbath, 
I shall gladly and with all my heart take up my cross anew 
and keep the Sabbath, the seventh day. 77 


An Embarrassed' Minister 


53 


Apparently Mr. Mitchell was not disposed to take the 
captain’s earnest and logical remarks very seriously, and they 
were not allowed to banish his accustomed smile. When the 
captain had finished, the minister only said: “Well, you are 
surely my superior in argument, and I must attempt no reply. 
You may rest assured, though, that if you stand by your 
reasoning, you will be obliged to keep the Jewish Sabbath.” 

At this point, Mr. Mitchell found it necessary to be ex¬ 
cused; and with cheerful “So long,” he made his exit. The 
truth of the matter was, he felt himself distinctly embar¬ 
rassed, and wished to avoid further probing at the captain’s 
hands. 

Three Other Preachers Aboard 

As the minister withdrew, Harold Wilson called “just a 
minute,” to inform the captain that since they had talked the 
day before, he had found “a lot of new things.” 

“Have you been talking to the Rev. Mr. Anderson, young 
man ?” the captain inquired. 

“No; but I have been reading my Bible and talking to 
people I have met. And, captain, this Sabbath question is a 
mighty interesting subject. Everybody wants to know about 
it. Did you know there are three other preachers aboard?” 

The captain well knew this, but his experience with Mr. 
Mitchell had somewhat discouraged him. 

“One of those preachers is a great talker, captain. When 
he heard me talking to some of the men, he acted as though 
he had some bad blood. Why, he almost jumped at me, and 
said that anybody who kept the old Jewish Sabbath was ‘al¬ 
most a Christ killer,’ if you know what that means. 

“Well, I didn’t know at first what to say, so I just let him 
talk on till I got my breath. 

“By and by I asked him what he meant by the ‘Jewish 
Sabbath.’ I said, ‘Do you mean the Sabbath of the fourth 
commandment ?’ 

“ Wes, sir,’ he said, ‘that’s exactly what I mean. The Ten 
Commandments were given to the Jews; and when Christ 
came and died, they were all nailed to the cross. The Sab¬ 
bath lived and died with that Christless nation.’ 

“Just then Mr. Anderson came along, and I just couldn’t 
help asking him what he thought. You see, I had never heard 
about a Jewish Sabbath, or in fact, any other particular kind 
of Sabbath, so I wanted to have the preachers make it clear. 


54 


The Marked Bible 


“The first thing Mr. Anderson did was to ask Mr. Spaul¬ 
ding why he called it ‘Jewish/ 

“ ‘Because, with all the other commandments of the old 
law, it was given to the Jews, 7 he replied. ‘And that whole 
code was abolished at the cross.’ ” 

“That is what I have always understood,” said the captain, 
interrupting Harold’s narration. 

“But you’ll never believe it longer, I think,” said Harold, 
“after you’ve heard the story. 

“Mr. Anderson asked, ‘Do you believe, then, that to-day 
there is no law against stealing and murdering, and that 
there is no longer any obligation for children to honor father 
and mother?’ 

“Mr. Spaulding then said something that didn’t amount 
to much, for he seemed unable to explain; and Mr. Anderson 
inquired: ‘Brother, what do you preach to people, when you 
wish them to accept Christ? Do you not tell them they are 
sinners? You certainly do; but the moment you say this, you 
are denying your theory, for men are sinners only when they 
have transgressed the law. Paul says, you know, that “sin is 
not imputed when there is no law.” ’ 

“A crowd began to gather while Mr. Anderson was speak¬ 
ing, and Mr. Spaulding asked to be excused; but we all in¬ 
sisted he ought to help finish the conversation he had begun, 
so he stayed. 

“ ‘Now, brother,’ Mr. Anderson said, ‘this has always been 
true. The only reason why Adam was a sinner was that he 
transgressed law. All through the history of time, there has 
been sin; and all through the history of time, therefore, there 
has been law — God’s moral law. Thus all through the his¬ 
tory of time, likewise, there has been a Saviour to redeem 
man from the law’s condemnations. Law, sin, Saviour,— 
these are the three great outstanding facts in the Bible story.’ 

“I gave him my Bible to read his proof from, and he surely 
gave a plenty. He read a text for every statement he made. 
1 John 3:4 showed sin to be transgression; Romans 5:13, 
that there cannot be sin without law; and Romans 5:12, that 
Adam sinned; and Revelation 13: 8, that Christ has been a 
Saviour from the very first.” 

The captain picked up his own Bible, and read Revelation 
13:8; for it came to him as a text scarcely known before, 


An Embarrassed Minister 


55 


“That does say, young man, that Christ was slain from 
the foundation of the world, doesn’t it ? But I do not exactly 
understand it.” 

“'Well, Mr. Anderson explained it by saying that all the 
time before Christ came, people had the gospel, and were 
saved by faith in a Redeemer to come. He read Galatians 
3: 8 and John 8: 56 to show that Abraham knew Christ, and 
Hebrews 11: 26 to show that Moses did. A man couldn’t 
help but see it. 

“Then he showed that Christ was the one who gave the 
Sabbath in the beginning, that it was Christ who spoke the 
Ten Commandments, and that it was Christ who went with 
the Israelites through all their journeys. Of course, Mr. 
Spaulding didn’t enjoy it all; but he had to acknowledge 
that what was said was true, for it was all there in the Bible, 

“I couldn’t help laughing when, at the last, Mr. Anderson 
asked: “Brother Spaulding, if Christ made the worlds (and 
you admit that He did), and if it was He who made the Sab¬ 
bath and gave it to man (and jmu admit that too), and if He 
spoke the law on Sinai, and thus gave the Sabbath again, 
must it not be that the Sabbath known back there was the 
Sabbath of Christ, and therefore the Christian Sabbath V Mr. 
Spaulding blushed, and moved in a funny, nervous way, and 
then we all laughed. But he said ‘Yes’ just the same. He 
couldn’t help it. 

Mr. Spaulding Challenges 

“Before we left, Mr. Anderson said this: ‘Friends, I am 
sure you can all see that the term “Jewish Sabbath” is an 
expression which Christians should not use, any more than 
they should say “the Jewish law of God.” Both the law, and 
the Sabbath, which is a part of it, were given at the very 
beginning, 2,500 years before the Jewish nation existed. The 
Sabbath was given to the whole human race; or as Jesus 
said, it “was made for man.” Mark 2: 27.’ 

“Mr. Spaulding was quite excited when we broke up; and 
he said to us: ‘This has been a kind of one-sided discussion 
to-day; but if any of you want to study this further, come 
here to-morrow at two o’clock, and I will show you a few 
things. You will then see that this seventh-day business is 
a pretty small affair.’ ” 


CHAPTER VIII 


Theological Disagreement and Confusion 

H UMAN nature enjoys a fray; and as the word was passed 
around among the passengers, that the Rev. Mr. Spaul¬ 
ding intended to take the theological warpath, a buzz of ex¬ 
citement was at once created, and here and there little groups 
could he seen discussing what might happen the next day. 

Captain Mann wore a smiling face and maintained a 
strictly neutral air, but inwardly he was sharing the spirit 
of intensity which seemed to have taken possession of many 
of the passengers. 

Mr. Spaulding, immediately after his conversation with 
Mr. Anderson, in which he had felt his position rudely shaken, 
sought out his fellow ministers and invited them to his room 
for a consultation. 

The veil of secrecy must of necessity be thrown around 
much that took place as the three good clerical brethren met 
and considered the situation. Suffice it here to say that when 
the Rev. Mr. Mitchell learned, after his arrival, the purpose 
of the meeting, he devoutly wished himself elsewhere. He 
distinctly saw that his brother minister had made a mistake, 
and that unless much care and wisdom were exercised, great 
embarrassment was sure to follow. 

Couldn’t Agree Among Themselves 

That which most distressed them all in their planning was 
the fact that they seemed utterly unable to agree among them¬ 
selves. Mr. Spaulding believed that the Sabbath had been 
abolished at the cross; Mr. Mitchell held that it had been 
changed, and rightly, by the early church; while the Rev. 
Mr. Gregory was bound to teach that the seventh day of the 
fourth commandment should be observed, but that Sunday 
was the true seventh day. 

Seeing the hopelessness of reconciling these divergent and 
conflicting views, Mr. Mitchell finally ventured to repeat the 
advice he had given Captain Mann; namely, that the wise 
course to take would be to ignore the question, and emphasize 
such points as God’s love and world evangelization, and thus 
cause the ordinary inquirer to forget and pass on. 

(56) 


Theological Disagreement and Confusion 57 

“But, Brother Mitchell, I cannot do that/’ interposed Mr. 
Spaulding. “I have put myself on record, and have openly 
announced that at two o’clock I will meet all who are in¬ 
terested. I have to do something.” 

“Yet you will find, brother, that if you attempt to show 
that the moral law has been abolished, you have brought the 
whole question into a tremendous tangle. Why, you can see 
that as soon as you claim the abolition of the whole law, just 
to get rid of the Sabbath, you have really taken from us the 
only standard of righteous living ever given to the world.” 
Thus spoke the Rev. Mr. Gregory. 

“Oh, no, brother! for we now have the new law, and are 
under its jurisdiction,” said Mr. Spaulding. 

Mr. Gregory States a Truth 

“Well, I have heard that argument over and over again,” 
replied Mr. Gregory, “but always to be convinced more fully 
of its weakness, if not of its absurdity. Did not Jesus Christ 
clearly teach, all through the Sermon on the Mount, the in¬ 
violability of the law ? Read Matthew 5:17, 18 and onward, 
and see. And did not Paul, by inspiration, make the decided 
statement that faith establishes the law ? See Romans 3: 31. 
Then listen to James, who actually quotes the sixth and the 
seventh commandment, thus showing what law he means, and, 
in close connection, directly calls it The royal law,’ The law 
of liberty,’ the law by which men are finally to be judged. 
James 2: 8-12. Brother, the ‘new law’ of which you speak is 
only the Decalogue made new by the life and power of Jesus 
Christ. And that old law made new includes the Sabbath, 
and no one may escape it. Cannot you see that ?” 

“But, my dear friend,” Mr. Spaulding very earnestly re¬ 
sponded, “if you take that position, you will certainly have to 
surrender our^ustom of Sunday worship; for there is ab¬ 
solutely no doubt that Saturday is the seventh day of the 
week, and therefore the day to be kept, according to the com¬ 
mandment. The only way to avoid the seventh day is to be 
freed from the commandment itself. 

“One or two points make clear that the seventh day we have 
now is the same seventh day known at the beginning: first, 
the wording of the commandment itself; second, the preserva¬ 
tion of the day from Sinai till now. The commandment is 
explicit. It says: ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath. . . . For 


58 


The Marked Bible 


in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, . . . and rested 
the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, 
and hallowed it/ In other words, the seventh day to which 
the commandment refers is the same day of the week God 
kept at creation. This is as certain as that English is English. 
And yon and I and every other intelligent man know that 
the Jewish nation has most carefully preserved the weekly 
reckoning from Sinai until now, and to-day is actually keep¬ 
ing the Sinaitic seventh day. There has been no loss in the 
count. 

“And let me call your attention to another fact which 
cannot be gainsaid. It is this: Jesus Christ kept the seventh 
day of the week, just as the Jews did, all His earthly life. 
Read Luke 4:16 and other scriptures. Therefore, if you are 
going to have any Sabbath at all, you must, as a Christian, do 
as He did.” 

“You are hitting pretty hard, my brother,” said Mr. 
Gregory, with some show of warmth, “and I am not sure that 
you are not doing me a bit of injustice. You forget, I think, 
that more than once the calendar has been changed, and that 
days have been added or dropped in order to make proper 
adjustments.” 

“Very true, good friend; but you are surely not so ig¬ 
norant (pardon my plainness) as to suppose that changes of 
calendar affected the order of the days of the week. The 
weekly cycle has never been altered. The Gregorian calendar 
of a. d. 1582 dropped out ten days; and Thursday, October 4, 
was followed immediately by Friday, October 15. Russia still 
followed the old style of reckoning until a few years ago; but 
her days of the week were the same as ours. Without doubt, 
our week, with its seventh day, has come to us without change 
from time immemorial. I was reading only yesterday that of 
one hundred and sixty ancient and modern languages and 
dialects, one hundred and eight actually know the seventh 
day by the name ‘Sabbath’ or its equivalent; and the writer 
stated that all of them ‘bear testimony to the identity and 
order of the days of the ancient and modern week/ He also 
added that the testimony adduced ‘is equally positive that 
the order of the days of the week is the same now as from the 
beginning of nations/ To my mind, this is incontrovertible 
evidence, A Sunday Sabbath is impossible.” 


Theological Disagreement and Confusion 59 

"Brethren,” interrupted Mr. Mitchell, "you will surely 
agree with me now that my suggestion made at the beginning 
of our interview has in it at least a measure of good judg¬ 
ment. I repeat that the situation is one which is embarrass¬ 
ing ; and I advise that Brother Spaulding make an effort to 
sidetrack the main question, and introduce some minor feature 
to-morrow. To carry these controverted points before any 
intelligent audience, and especially before one that has in it 
a man of the Rev. Mr. Anderson’s abilities, is but to invite 
a theological catastrophe.” 

With this counsel adopted as a basis for the work of the 
next day, the good brethren separated. 


Old Styl« to Oct. 4. 1582. New Style from Oct. 1 S. 


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4 • 





The Standard Dictionary, edition of 1907, contains a “universal calendar for every 
year of the Christian era.” The two sections from that calendar reproduced here 
show in a graphic way that the days of the week were not affected in the least 
when the changes were made in the days of the month. At the left is shown the 
change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. You will notice that in the first 
week of October, when this change was made, Friday followed Thursday as usual; 
and although eleven days were dropped, this in no way affected the regular order 
of the days of the week. The calendar at the right shows how the change was 
made in England in 1752, but with no change in the days of the week. 



































































































































































































60 


The Marked Bible 


There was no lack in interest or attendance when the hour 
appointed by Mr. Spaulding came. 

It was generally understood that he would attack the Sab¬ 
bath question “without gloves”; and naturally interest cen¬ 
tered on Mr. Anderson, for it seemed inconceivable that he 
would allow Mr. Spaulding’s statements to go unchallenged. 

Mr. Anderson, however, sat in a somewhat secluded posi¬ 
tion, evidently having no purpose to enter into controversy. 
To him, debate was painful, and he avoided it always if 
possible. 

“My Christian friends”—thus began Mr. Spaulding—“I 
am profoundly convinced that many questions relative to our 
various beliefs can never be fully and satisfactorily settled. 
In fact, I believe it is not the plan of God that they should 
be. No one can know absolutely that he is right. All doc¬ 
trines are relative. Truth to-day may be error to-morrow. 

“The question of the Sabbath is one of the unsettled points 
of faith. One denomination holds one position, another holds 
another. The Mohammedan observes Friday; the Jew and 
the Adventist, Saturday; the Christian world as a whole, 
Sunday. 

“Of course, we are all aware that the question of which 
day a person keeps is not one of primary importance, but 
rather the spirit with which he keeps it. Let me remark, 
therefore —” 

“Pardon me, Dr. Spaulding” (the speaker was a plain 
but scholarly looking man of nearly seventy winters, who sat 
directly in front of the minister), “but do you really mean 
to have us believe that you think it matters not whether we 
keep Friday or Sunday, provided we have the right spirit ? 
Did I not hear you say yesterday that if any one should keen 
the seventh day he would become ‘almost a Christ killer’? 
You certainly led us to the conclusion that a great deal of im¬ 
portance attached to the matter of which day we keep, and 
that to-day you would show that the ‘seventh-day business,’ 
as you termed it, ‘is a pretty small affair.’ 

The Inconsistency of a Sunday Proponent 

“Now, as a matter of absolute fairness to all concerned, 
will you kindly answer this question: If the particular day 
is not really important, then shouldn’t we consider Saturday 


Theological Disagreement and Confusion 61 

as good as Sunday for our rest day ? I am not a Sabbatarian, 
but 1 do love the idea of fair play.” 

Mr. Spaulding hesitated, and was evidently confused. His 
well planned diversion was failing. With difficulty, however, 
he attempted to proceed. 

“Before the interruption, I was about to say that—•” 

“But, doctor, I insist on an answer. I have good reason 
for so doing, as you ought to know. You surely cannot have 
forgotten that in Arkansas, a few years ago, you appeared 
in my court to make complaint against a Sabbatarian for 
having done ordinary work on Sunday. You pressed the case 
by every means at your command, and by mere technicalities, 
succeeded in securing a conviction. You will recall that the 
poor fellow whom you prosecuted was obliged to lie in prison 
for many months, and all because you and your fellow clergy¬ 
men tenaciously insisted upon the sacredness of your par¬ 
ticular rest day. Do you now repudiate the doctrine which 
you at that time indorsed f ” 

All present now realized the hopelessness of Mr. Spaul¬ 
ding’s position; and while they shared in the judge’s desire 
for fair play, they inwardly longed for something to happen 
that would relieve the good brother of his embarrassment. 
Providentially something did “happen.” 

“Dr. Spaulding, allowing the judge’s question to be an¬ 
swered a little later, may I interrupt to ask if you can give 
us a little light on the subject of the day line ? Captain Mann 
informs me that we are nearing the day line, and that to-night 
we must drop a day from our reckoning. To-morrow, there¬ 
fore, instead of having a Tuesday, we shall have a Wednesday. 
What effect, as you understand it, does this change have upon 
the matter of a definite day of the week as Sabbath f ’ 

The questioner was a San Francisco merchant, a man who 
had often made the transpacific trip, and who therefore was 
fully informed regarding the problem of the day line. 

Mr. Spaulding quickly brightened at the mention of the 
day line, and smilingly consented to give his opinion. In 
fact, he was making an effort to reach this particular point 
when interrogated by the judge. 

“I am glad, sir, to have you introduce this question; and 
with the judge’s permission to pass his question for the pres¬ 
ent, I will venture a brief statement. 


62 


The Marked Bible 

“I suppose all or nearly all are aware that in crossing the 
Pacific Ocean east or west, a day must be added or dropped. 
Going west, we are obliged to skip a day; and going east, to 
repeat a day. For instance, to-night we shall retire during 
the hours of Monday, and to-morrow morning we shall wake 
up to find that we are passing through the hours of Wednes¬ 
day. We shall have no Tuesday at all. 

“Now, suppose I am a Sabbatarian, and ardently believe in 
the absolute sacredness of Saturday. I am going to China. 
I reach the day line Friday evening, and begin to keep my 
Sabbath. Then I retire with a worshipful spirit, anticipat¬ 
ing the joys of the holy time for the morrow. I sleep. I 



The line chosen is the 180th meridian of longitude from Greenwich. 


wake. It is morning. But, lo, instead of its being Saturday, 
my good captain tells me it is Sunday! 

“Then I become excited and confused. The thing bewilders 
me. I thought my theory correct, but find it incorrect. The 
fourth commandment, I discover, doesn’t fit a big, round 
world. My Sabbath slipped away from me without even so 
much as a farewell. If I keep any day at all, I have to keep 
Sunday.” (How often do hard facts disprove senseless 
theories!) 












Theological Disagreement and Confusion 63 

“I think you will all agree with me that, if I am ordinarily 
intelligent, I will come to the conclusion that God never meant 
that seventh day for me, at least while crossing the Pacific; 
for when I tried to keep it, I couldn’t. But if I cannot keep 
it while journeying, I ought not to try to keep it at any time. 
And so, as a sensible man, I will say to myself: ‘Spaulding, 
don’t be foolish. Don’t burden yourself down with impossible 
dogmas. Be free. Keep away from Jewish ceremonies.’ 

“I need say no more. The point is self-evident. The day 
line forbids the keeping of definite days.” 

“May I ask a question?” said Mr. Severance, the merchant. 

“Certainly, if it is pertinent, and I doubt not it will be,” 
replied the minister. 

“I observe Sunday and live in San Francisco. Do you be¬ 
lieve I really can keep Sunday in that city ?” 

“Yes; because in San Francisco, the days come to you 
regularly, and you are without question.” 

“Would it be possible for me to have my Sunday in 
Peking ?” 

“Certainly,” was Mr. Spaulding’s answer, “and for the 
same reason.” 

“Another question: Is Sunday at Peking the same day that 
is known in San Francisco ?” 

“Without doubt, for the day travels around the earth.” 

“Now, Brother Spaulding, you have said just what I 
wanted. You say the day travels. It must, then, have some 
place at which it begins its journey, and likewise some place 
at which it ends its journey. What place is that? To be 
sure, you must say, The day line. And all days begin and 
end at the same place, one day following another in exact 
order. In that case, can there be any valid reason for actual 
confusion, or for supposing that we cannot keep the count of 
the days? If you are willing to yield the floor for a time, I 
should like to call for a few words from our captain.” 

“Captain Mann! Captain Mann!” came the call from all 
directions. All eyes were turned to him. Would he agree 
with Mr. Spaulding ? 


CHAPTER IX 


A Ship Captain on the Day Line 

“r| 1HIS is Dr. Spaulding’s hour,” the captain began, “and 

JL with his permission, I will consent to make a few obser¬ 
vations regarding the day line.” 

Mr. Spaulding smiled rather faintly, and in a somewhat 
hesitating manner, seemed to give consent. The entire situa¬ 
tion had proved a great disappointment to him; and now he 
was really obliged to give place, without having made any 
substantial gain. 

As Captain Mann arose, a happy thought seemed to strike 
him, and he smilingly suggested a round table, or question 
box, that thus all might have opportunity to bring out any 
phase of the question not clear to them. The question box 
idea prevailed. 

“Before the questions are proposed,” said the captain, 
“allow me this brief word: The day line is one of the very 
simple problems of life, so simple, in fact, that I have often 
explained it without difficulty to children. Instead of its being 
a matter for confusing minds and causing a loss in the count 
of the days of the week, it is the one thing that prevents any 
and all disturbances in our reckoning. It is a great, wonder¬ 
ful world regulator, preserving to all the nations of the earth 
the identity of our days.” 

Twins Traveling in Opposite Directions 

“Do you mean to say, captain, that the fact that the world 
is a globe makes no difference ?” asked a lady missionary from 
Ohio. 

“That is the thought, madam. It matters not whether one 
is at the poles or at the equator, whether traveling by sea or 
by land, whether going east or going west, the day is an ab¬ 
solutely fixed quantity of time, and may be scientifically and 
accurately known at any place on the earth’s surface.” 

“Well, I have heard it said, over and over again,” stated a 
simple but well meaning man seated near the captain, “that 
time is really lost or gained — that going in one direction, 
(64) 


A Ship Captain on the Day Line 


65 


yon lose; while in the other, you gain. How could preachers 
say that if it isn’t so ¥” 

“I am sure I cannot answer your query as to why preachers 
have taught you what you say they have taught regarding the 
day line. But let me say to you and to all, that there is no 
such thing as gaining or losing time. The expression is un¬ 
scientific, and indicates something that is only apparent, 
not real. 

“Let me illustrate: Two men —twins — start from New 
York to make the journey around the world. One goes east¬ 
ward, the other westward. They finally come together again 
in New York, after a lapse of several months; but he who 
went eastward finds himself exactly the same age as his 
brother who traveled the opposite direction. They compare 
figures, and find that it took each of them the same number 
of days, hours, and minutes to make the trip, though one 
added a day and the other dropped a day. 

“Now, if it is actually true that one gained and the other 
lost a day, there must have been two days’ difference in their 
ages at the journey’s end. [Laughter.] And if they had re¬ 
peated the process a sufficient number of times, there would 
have come a time when one would be old enough to be the 
other’s father. [Prolonged laughter.] 

“You all see how ludicrous the matter appears when ana¬ 
lyzed but a little. The truth is, the whole question is one not 
of gaining or losing time, but of computation. 

Only a Numerical Change 

“I carry with me,” said the captain, “an extract from an 
article on the day line which I read many years ago, and 
which, with your permission, I will read. It-states the whole 
proposition more clearly than any word of mine could possibly 
do. Here it is: 

“ ‘The revolutions of the earth itself, as measured at fixed 
localities, are what measure and number the days, not the 
revolutions that may be indicated in the diary of a traveler. 
A person traveling east or west around the world puts him¬ 
self at variance with the numerical order of its revolutions 
as computed at any fixed point; and that variance must be 
corrected, and that is all the question there is involved in 


3 


66 


The Marked Bible 


keeping a definite and identical day on a round earth. At¬ 
tending to this one point, a person need never lose the defi¬ 
nite day. 

“ ‘To illustrate: Let us suppose a man to start from some 
point which we call A, and travel eastward. Suppose he is 
able to make the circuit of the earth, and come back to his 
starting point, in just ten days. Every day, of course, he is 
carried around by the revolution of the earth. But traveling, 
as he is, with the earth, from west to east, he each day gains 
upon it one tenth of its circumference; and in ten days, he 
would gain ten tenths, or a whole circumference. Thus when 
he arrives at A, he finds that those who have remained there 
have marked ten revolutions of the earth, and have had ten 
days of time. But the earth has taken him around as many 
times as it has them; and in addition to that, he has passed 
around once himself, which is the same as another revolution 
for him, making eleven, and giving him, according to his 
calendar, as he has kept it from day to day, eleven days in¬ 
stead of ten. What shall he do with that extra day ? — Drop 
it out of the count. Why ? — Because he knows that the 
earth itself has made but ten revolutions, as marked at A; 
and the revolutions of the earth abstractly considered, not 
the times he may go around it, mark the days, and he must 
make his count correspond to that of the earth wherever he is. 

“ Tf the person goes around the earth westward, this proc¬ 
ess is simply reversed. If he travels at the same rate, his 
journey each day cancels, or causes him to lose, so far as his 
count is concerned, one tenth of a revolution of the earth. In 
ten days, he would lose a whole revolution, and would find, 
when he came around to his starting point at A, that his 
calendar showed but nine days instead of ten. What should 
he do ? — Add into his account that lost day. Why ? — Be¬ 
cause he knows that the earth has made ten revolutions. Al¬ 
though he has himself, like the other man, been around the 
earth once, it has been in such a direction as apparently to 
cancel one of its revolutions, and take it out of the count, in¬ 
stead of adding one, as in the other case; and now he must 
add it in, to be in harmony with the real condition of things. 

“ ‘A common illustration, which may be observed almost 
any day, may serve to make it a little clearer to the minds of 


A Ship Captain on the Day Line 


67 


some. Suppose a freight train a quarter of a mile in length. 
It starts, and moves along slowly the distance of its own 
length, or a quarter of a mile, bringing the rear of the train, 
when it stops, to the same place where the head of the train 
stood when it started. Suppose now that a brakeman started 
from the rear of the train, when the train started, and walked 
along on the ears toward the front, his rate of motion being 
the same as that of the train itself. Wlien the train stops, he 
has reached the head of the train, so that although the train 
has carried him but a quarter of a mile, he has walked another 
quarter, and so is, in space, half a mile from where he started. 
But suppose another brakeman, when the train begins to 
move, starts from the head of the train, and walks toward the 
rear at the same rate of motion. When the train stops, he has 
reached the rear. But his motion, being opposite to that of 
the train, has just balanced, or canceled, for him, the motion 
of the train; so he finds himself, in space, or compared with 
surrounding objects, just where he was when the train started. 
Thus brakeman No. 1 walks a quarter of a mile, doubles the 
movement of the train, and finds himself at last half a mile 
from the place where he started; and brakeman'No. 2 also 
walks a quarter of a mile, but his motiod cancels the movement 
of the train, and he finds himself at last just where he was in 
the beginning. On the same principle it is that one going 
around the earth eastward adds a day to his reckoning, while 
one going around westward loses a day out of his/ ” 

Why the Day Line Is Where It Is 

Mr. Severance, the merchant, now asked the privilege of 
supplementing Captain Mann’s extract by one which he had 
preserved. He read as follows: 

“ 'The reason for this [the adding or dropping of a day at 
the day line] will be apparent upon a little careful thought; 
for it is always sunset at some point on the earth, and always 
sunrise, and noon, and midnight, at other points at the same 
time. Let us imagine that we could travel around the earth 
as rapidly as the earth revolves upon its axis, and we start 
out from London, or from any other place, at sunrise on 
Tuesday morning, and travel west. It would remain sunrise 
of the same day with us all the time. Yet when we came to 


68 


The Marked Bible 


the starting place, we should have to call it the next day; for 
those who remained there would have had noon, sunset, mid¬ 
night, and now would have their second morning, which would 
be Wednesday. Therefore we must change our reckoning, so 
that at that instant, in any place east of London, we would 
call it Tuesday morning; but at any point west of that line, 
it would be Wednesday. That would be the place where the 
day would change. But for convenience, men have chosen 
a line that passes through no habitable country, and have 
fixed that point as a place where the day would change. We 
may believe, too, that this is the line on which the Maker de¬ 
signed that the new day should begin. Now it 
makes no difference at what time we 



His motion, being opposite to that of the train, has just balanced, or canceled, for 
him, the motion of the train. 


recognize that there is one day on one side of it, and another 
day on the other side. The line chosen is the 180th meridian 
of longitude from Greenwich. 

“ ‘By this arrangement, each day is measured off by one 
revolution of the earth; and when it is finished, it is dis¬ 
charged from the calendar, and a new one takes its place at 
this point. Hence, wherever we may be on the face of the 
earth, the day comes to us with its full measure of twenty- 
four hours, and then is succeeded by another of exactly equal 
length. It is true that by our traveling east or west, the length 
of the day may to us be varied; but at the day line, these va¬ 
riations are all rectified, and in circumnavigating the globe, we 
find that we have done so without disarranging our calendar/” 

“Say, captain, who fixed up this day line scheme? And, 
say, was it agreed to peacefully V 9 The speaker was a rough- 
and-ready man from the Western plains, as jovial as he was 
rough. 



A Ship Captain on the Day Line 


69 


“Our friend has suggested a good thought, Captain Mann ; 
so please tell us something of the day line history/’ said Mr. 
Severance. 

The History of the Day Line 

“The day line is a natural result of the order of the peo¬ 
pling of the earth. Taking my Bible, I find that the cradle of 
the human family, after the Deluge, was in the valley of the 
Euphrates, in the Eastern Hemisphere. From that point, 
they went eastward and westward to the farthest parts of 
Europe and Africa, and centuries later, still farther west, 
across the Western Hemisphere, The day originally known in 
the Euphrates Valley was carried unchanged both east and 
west, the only difference being that as they went east, they 
began it earlier, while as they went west, they began it later. 

“That this is true is easily seen from the fact that a man 
may begin a journey at Peking, in China, and travel west¬ 
ward to San Francisco, and all the way around, will find his 
computation in perfect agreement with the time of the places 
through which he passes. In other words, he is following the 
natural route of the day, and thus need make no change. If, 
however, he goes east from Peking to San Francisco, he passes 
the natural starting point, and likewise the finishing point, of 
the day, and must adjust himself to what he finds. 

“To my mind, as was just read in your hearing, the Most 
High, who controlled the peopling of the earth, Himself 
lirovidentially arranged that the beginning and end of days, 
the particular point at which men would mark and number 
the earth’s revolutions, should be in the Pacific.” 

“Doesn’t it bother you at all about keeping Sunday, 
captain ?” asked the friend who sat near him. 

“Not in the least, sir,” was the reply. “It aids me in my 
keeping of Sunday, just as it aids every one who is conscien¬ 
tiously seeking to obey God’s commandments.” 

Mr. Anderson Invited to Speak 

“Say, captain, I’m not a Christian, and don’t keep any 
day, you see; but ever since I was a boy, I have wondered 
about this Sabbath matter, which the preachers were arguing 
yesterday. I can understand about the day line now, but I 
want to know if you honestly think people keep God’s com¬ 
mandment when they keep Sunday. Is Sunday the seventh 


70 


The Marked Bible 


day of the week? I could almost believe it is, if you would 
tell me so. What do you say, captain V ’ 

The simplicity and sincerity of the questioner awakened 
in the captain a tremendous desire to confess what he was 
rapidly coming to see; namely, that the fourth command¬ 
ment was not fulfilled in the observance of Sunday. But just 
as the truth was about to escape his lips, he checked himself. 
Perhaps the time was not opportune, he thought. With a 
gracious smile, he therefore said: “Let us refer the theological 
questions, my dear sir, to the clergy. They will gladly help 
in such matters.” 

Harold Wilson, who was standing near Mr. Severance, 
whispered a word in that gentleman’s ear. 

Mr. Severance was a large-hearted, liberal-minded man 
of affairs; and acting upon Harold’s suggestion, he arose 
and said: 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have with us on our vessel a 
Christian gentleman, a man of the cloth, one of deep learn¬ 
ing and piety, and to my mind, an authority on this question 
of the Sabbath. I have heard him preach, and therefore feel 
competent to judge of his ability. I believe we could do no 
better than to invite the Rev. Mr. Anderson to give us the 
privilege of hearing from him in reply to the question we have 
just heard.. All in favor, please raise the hand.”' 

There was an almost unanimous response, though it was 
noticed that Mr. Spaulding did not vote. 

It was arranged that Mr. Anderson should meet his fellow 
passengers the next day at the same hour. 

Mr. Severance created much interest in the meeting of 
the next day by suggesting that the other clergymen aboard 
the vessel be present at the service and interrogate the speaker, 
and thus bring out all phases of the subject. 









CHAPTER X 


The Strange Preacher Talks 

“TTE doesn’t look much like a 'Christ killer/ does he?” 

XX whispered one woman to another when, at the ap¬ 
pointed hour the next day, Mr. Anderson stood before the 
passengers in the main parlor. 

"Well,” replied her friend, "maybe he isn’t a Jew; but I’ve 
been told, since leaving San Francisco, that he really doesn’t 
believe in Christ. He teaches, so I am informed by one of 
the ministers aboard our vessel, that we are to be saved by 
keeping the law, rather than by faith in Jesus Christ; and I 
think that is terrible.” 

Mr. Anderson smilingly greeted his ?ellow travelers, as¬ 
sured them that he assumed no superior wisdom, asked them 
all to be free to contribute of their best thoughts, and laying 
Harold Wilson’s marked Bible on the table before him, begged 
that all join him in asking God’s Spirit to rest upon their 
interview, and that light might come to all. 

What a beautiful, simple prayer he offered! "Our Father 
who art in heaven,” he began, "we thank Thee to-day for Thy 
blessed word, which we have met to study. We thank Thee 
for Jesus, for the great sacrifice He made for us, and that in 
Him we may find a Friend who is the chiefest among ten 
thousand, the One altogether lovely. We are thankful for 
Thy good Spirit, which convinces us of sin, which teaches us 
the way of life, which reveals Thee, and gives us power to 
overcome. We hope only in Thy mercy. In us there is no 
good, and we can come only in that Name which Thou hast 
caused us to love. Look upon Thine own blessed Son, remem¬ 
ber His life, behold us in Him, and know that by faith we 
make Him just now our personal Redeemer. For all Thy 
goodness, we praise Thee; and we most earnestly dedicate our¬ 
selves to Thee. Direct us at this hour in our study, and glorify 
Thyself in causing us to see a little more fully the truth as 
it is in Jesus. Amen.” 

"My!” exclaimed the woman who had just spoken of his 
supposedly wrong views. "That doesn’t sound as I expected. 
Why, he prays like a Christian! Isn’t it strange that one 
minister should get such a wrong opinion of another?” 

(71) 



( 72 ) 







The Strange Preacher Talks 


73 


“I find,” said Mr. Anderson, at the conclusion of the 
prayer, “that a number of questions have been written and 
already passed in, and perhaps I ought to notice these first. 
Is this agreeable ?” 

Evidently Mr. Spaulding was somewhat fearful, though 
without reason, that some scheme had been devised to shut 
out free, open questioning; and having had it in mind to 
introduce “a few nuts hard to crack,” he took occasion to 
suggest that while the written questions were all right, he 
should like to have the privilege of introducing at least a few 
queries first. 

Mr. Anderson readily agreed, knowing that courtesy is a 
principle of the Golden Rule, which he sought always to 
follow. 

Mr. Spaulding was therefore permitted to have a free 
hand. “Do you believe, brother,” he began, “that Sabbath 
keeping is one of the ‘works of the law’?” 

“Certainly it is.” 

Is Sabbath Keeping a Part of Christian Service? 

“Do you believe that Sabbath keeping should be regarded 
as an essential part of our Christian service under the gospel?” 

“Most assuredly.” 

“Very good, brother; and now let me read Paul’s words to 
the Christians of Galatia, and let us see to what your doc¬ 
trine leads. Galatians 2:16, 21: ‘Knowing that a man is not 
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus 
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of 
the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be 
justified. . . •. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if 
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.’ 

“Now, brother, if Sabbath keeping is one of the works 
mentioned, it frustrates the grace of God, and declares-that 
Christ died in vain. That is so, isn’t it ?” 

“Sabbath keeping,” said Mr. Anderson, “is indeed a work 
of the law, just as any other good deed is also a work. But 
no one can ever find salvation by performing good works. 
Christianity knows no such thing as salvation by works. No 
one can become righteous by any deed of his, however great 
or good it may seem to be. This is said over and over again 
in both Romans and Galatians, 


74 


The Marked Bible 


“But doing good in order to be saved, or, as Paul states it, 
to be justified, or made righteous, is altogether different from 
doing good when through faith one has been saved. 

“Works may never truly precede faith and justification, 
but they as certainly succeed. This must be true; because 
before one has through faith found deliverance from sin, it 
is impossible to do good. The carnal man, with his carnal 
mind, cannot obey a spiritual law. Romans 8: 7. But after 
sin has been forgiven, and the law of the Lord is written in 
the heart, then all the works of the law appear as naturally 
as the leaves appear on the trees. In an unconverted life, 
the works of the law are only dead form; in a converted life, 
they are the living fruits of the Spirit. 

“Sabbath keeping, therefore, would be only a useless and 
senseless theory to a person who is not born again, yet one of 
the covenant experiences to him who has Jesus in the heart.* 

Is Preaching the Sabbath Preaching Christ? 

“Mr. Anderson,” said one of the San Francisco ladies, 
“you don’t believe, then, that people must keep the law as a 
means of salvation?” 

“No, madam; Jesus Christ alone, by our faith, cleanses 
and saves, and puts Himself within the heart. However, so 
soon as we have received Him into the life, there are im¬ 
mediately fulfilled in us all the glorious things that the law 
ordains. See Romans 8:3, 4. Thus faith establishes the law 
in our hearts as the law of our own life. Romans 3: 31.” 

“Well, Mr. Anderson, I want to acknowledge that that is 
a very beautiful truth. I see it plainly,” said the lady. “But 
may I ask if you really find the Sabbath a blessing — that 
is, the seventh-day Sabbath? You probably know we have 
been taught that it is Jewish, a matter of bondage, a yoke 
which no one can wear with pleasure.” 

“This reminds me,” said Mr. Anderson, “of one of the 
questions I have in hand here. It reads: ‘Why do you not 
preach Christ instead of so much Sabbath ? Is not the preach¬ 
ing of Christ the all-important thing?’ Perhaps I may an¬ 
swer the two questions together. 

“I wonder if we actually understand the expressions 
‘preaching the Sabbath’ and ‘preaching Christ.’ What is the 
Sabbath? Who is Christ? 


The Strange Preacher Talks 75 

“To determine the character of the Sabbath, it is neces¬ 
sary to look back to the beginnings of time, to those days 
before sin came. There we find God’s perfect plan. There we 
see what should have been always, and what will be when the 
reign of sin is ended. 

“The story is that God’s work was completed, and all was 
very good.’ ‘The heavens and the earth were finished, and 
all the host of them.’ Then God rested. ‘He rested on the 
seventh day from all His work which He had made.’ Genesis 
2:2.. In the Paradise home, that home resplendent with the 
glories of the better world, the great Author of life kept 
Sabbath with the two beautiful beings who were to have do¬ 
minion over the earth. And while His created beings kept 
Sabbath, the heavenly chorus ‘sang together, and all the sons 
of God shouted for joy.’ Job 38: 7. Surely that first Sab¬ 
bath mu$t have been a delightsome day, and its service 
glorious beyond description.” 

“But, my brother,” interrupted the Eev. Mr. Spaulding, 
“you would not have this people believe that God was tired, 
would you f ’ 

“No, Brother Spaulding; and I was intending to cover the 
point you have made. Let me do so now. 

“The Sabbath was not originated nor given to man be¬ 
cause of weariness on the part of either God or man. Of 
the Creator, it is written that He ‘fainteth not, neither is 
weary’ (Isaiah 40:28); and man, who was ‘in His image,’ 
knew nothing of physical deterioration and decay until after 
the seeds of sin had been sown. If sin had never entered the 
world, there would have been no such thing as tired nerves or 
tired muscles, no breaking down of the tissues of life, no sick¬ 
ness, no death. Therefore, as the Sabbath was given before 
the fall, its great and primary purpose was not that man 
should merely cease from his regular employment, but that 
he should enjoy the same ‘rest’ the Maker of the world Him¬ 
self enjoyed. 

“Keep this in mind, dear friends, for it is vital to an un¬ 
derstanding of the whole matter. He who sees in Sabbath 
keeping nothing more than the laying aside of his secujar 
labor for a certain twenty-four hours, and the enjoyment of 
the privileges of rest, change, and churchgoing, has not yet 
found the secret of the Sabbath as it was given to mankind. 


76 


The Marked Bible 


“As we have just read, He who made heaven and earth 
never wearies. He is the great I AM, the Self-existent One, 
who inhabits eternity, with whom years are not. Yet we 
read that He rested. More than this, the Word tells us that 
‘He rested, and was refreshed/ Exodus 31:17. His was the 
rest of a divine joy in beholding the perfection of His won¬ 
derful handiwork, and in receiving from His earth children 
the love and adoration that sprang from their quick-pulsing 
and worshipful hearts. It was the rest of communion, of 
reciprocal affection, of heart understanding. And I believe 
that I have often found, in my Sabbath keeping, a little frag¬ 
ment of the restful joy and the joyful rest of that first Eden 
day when God rested and worshiped with man. It is this 
beautiful experience that I wish you all to know.” 

There'were some who dared to say “Amen,” and many 
present found their heart strangely stirred by the minister’s 
words. 

No Missing Links 

“But let me continue,” he said. 

“That the blessedness of that first Sabbath might be per¬ 
petuated, that its experiences might be multiplied and known 
eternally by all who should live upon earth, God arranged 
that each succeeding Sabbath should be a repetition of the 
first. The record is, ‘God blessed the seventh day, and sanc¬ 
tified it’—a statement which carries in it the very fullness 
of divine purpose, divine power, divine presence and wisdom. 

“Please note, first, that the scripture speaks of the seventh 
day; second, that it declares this day is ‘sanctified’—that is, 
set apart or appointed to holy or sacred use. It is the seventh 
day, not a seventh part of time, that is brought to view.” 

“May I ask, brother,” said Mr. Gregory, “what evidence 
you have that the first seventh day is now to be identified 
with Saturday ? To my mind, there is much to show that our 
Sunday is the original seventh day.” 

“The evidence, Brother Gregory, is so simple, and withal 
so complete, that there can scarcely be a mistake. Without 
question, the fourth commandment calls attention to the sev¬ 
enth day known at the beginning, does it not ?” 

“I agree with you that far,” said Mr. Gregory. 

“Very well; and I presume you will also agree with me 
in holding that the Sabbath kept by the Saviour was the 
same as that given at Sinai,” 



The Strange Preacher Talks 77 

“Yes, I think so,” was the reply. 

“I was sure you would,” said Mr. Anderson; “and now let 
me call your attention to the statement made in Luke 23: 56, 
that after the crucifixion, the women who had been the most 
devoted disciples of Christ, kept the Sabbath day ‘according 
to the commandment/ ” 

“Yes; but right there is a missing link. That may have 
been the ceremonial sabbath of the Passover week rather than 
the moral Sabbath of the fourth commandment. You see, 


Peter and John running to the sepulcher on the morning of the resurrection. 

we must keep track of the week, and make sure that we are 
keeping in touch with the cycle of seven days, which must 
continue unbroken from creation until now.” 

“That is important, Brother Gregory, and so important 
that our Lord has given it emphasis. Let me ask a question: 
Was the Sabbath that the women kept, the day which came 
just before that other day, called the ‘first day’ ?” 

“Yes, sir, it must have been.” 

“Another question: Was not that next day the day of the 
resurrection ?” 

“It certainly was.” 

“Then what ‘first’ day was it? Why, the scripture dis¬ 
tinctly states that it was ‘the first day of the week.’ Do you 
think, friends, there is any missing link in the connections? 




78 


The Marked Bible 

I do not believe that even Brother Gregory will have any 
question about it. As you see, there is the Sabbath of the 
fourth commandment, followed by the first day of the week, 
the week which we all know to be our week of the present time. 
And so we know that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, 
which is the Sabbath of creation, is the seventh day of our 
Week, and therefore the day which we are to observe, and in 
which we shall find blessing. Isn’t that plain ?” 

There was no dissent. Mr. Anderson had carried his au¬ 
dience with him. 

God’s Presence Sanctifies 

“But I want you to catch the truth of that word in Gene¬ 
sis,—''God blessed the seventh day.’ Proverbs 10: 22 states, 
'The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich.’ His blessing is an 
active principle of righteousness, changing the nature of that 
upon which it is placed. This is illustrated in the life of 
Jacob. Jacob was wrestling with God to obtain victory over 
his sin. The divine Presence said, 'Let Me go, for the day 
breaketh.’ Jacob, almost in despair, cried out, 'I will not let 
Thee go, except Thou bless me.’ And then it was that the 
great healing, helping, transforming power of God came into 
the poor wrestler’s soul, and the divine benediction was, 'Thy 
name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince 
hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.’ 
Jacob, the deceiver, had become Israel, the prince. His nature 
had been renewed by the inflowing of God’s holiness. The 
blessing of the Lord had made him rich indeed, had made 
him a holy child of God. 

“This reveals the character of the blessing of the Lord. 
It is the impartation to man of His own life, His own presence. 

“And do you remember the story of the burning bush? 
Exodus 3:1-6. God’s presence was revealed to Moses; and 
the word came, 'Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the 
place whereon thou standest is holy.’ The presence of God 
made the very surroundings holy. The same word was spoken 
to Joshua. Joshua 5 :13-15. 

“Thus we learn this: God’s blessing is His own presence. 
His presence sanctifies, or makes holy. His presence imparted 
to man makes the man holy; His presence manifested in a 
place makes the place holy. The rest of the story is plain,— 
His presence, His blessing, in the seventh day makes the 
- seventh day holy. 


The Strange Preacher Talks 79 

“When God blessed the seventh day, He simply put His 
presence into that day for all earth’s history. He did this 
for man. You know that Jesus said, ‘The Sabbath was made 
for man.’ And how wonderful, then, was the making! Every 
seventh day brings His blessed, holy presence. The holy day 
carries its sanctifying, cleansing, uplifting power into the 
heart of God’s worshiping ones, and makes them glad in the 
gift of holiness. 

“The Author of the Sabbath was Jesus Christ. Bead John 
1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1: 13-16. It is His presence which the 
seventh day incloses. It is His life of which I partake in Sab¬ 
bath keeping. And do I not therefore preach Him when I 
truly preach the Sabbath? Ah, this Sabbath truth is among 
the grandest of all the grand things brought to view in the 
word of God!” 

“Amen!” called out Harold Wilson, who, by special invita¬ 
tion of Captain Mann, was present; and all eyes turned 
his way. 

Captain Mann was visibly affected. He recognized a wit¬ 
nessing voice that was speaking to his soul. It was the voice 
of truth, which he could not reject. • 

Mr. Spaulding and Mr. Gregory quietly waited until Mr. 
Anderson had offered a short prayer, then they passed out. 

“Brother Spaulding, what did you think of that?” asked 
Mr. Gregory when they were alone. 





CHAPTER XI 

Interested Questioners 

^"Il/TR. ANDERSON, you will pardon me, I am sure, if I 
_LVJ_ detain you a few moments. This service has simply 
compelled me to come and take you by the hand, and to ex¬ 
press to you my appreciation.” 

Mr. Anderson did not recognize the man. 

“Of course, you do not know me; and may I therefore in¬ 
troduce myself as Judge Kershaw, of Little Rock, Arkansas ?” 

“Oh, and you are the man who interrogated Mr. Spaulding 
yesterday V 9 

“Yes, sir, though perhaps I should he ashamed of what 
has since appeared to me an impertinence. But you see, Mr. 
Spaulding’s statements greatly stirred me, as I remembered 
the occasion of several years ago, when, at his instance, a 
member of your denomination was brought before me for 
Sunday violation.” 

A group of interested passengers began to form as soon 
as Judge Kershaw began to speak. Harold Wilson was among 
them. 

“At that time,” the judge continued, “I thought I dis¬ 
covered on the part of the prosecution a distinct spirit of in¬ 
tolerance, which to my mind is utterly foreign to the gospel 
( 80 ) 













Interested Questioners 


81 


of Jesus Christ. But while this was true, the young defendant 
manifested most beautiful patience and self-restraint; and as 
he acted as his own counsel, and spoke in his own behalf, I 
was persuaded that his principles were of a high order.” 

“Was he convicted, judge?” asked one of the listeners. 

“Yes; the letter of the law had been violated, the jury 
brought in a verdict of guilty, and I was obliged to pass sen¬ 
tence. But I was hurt, deeply hurt — hurt in one sense by 
the wrong spirit shown by the professed Christians who prose¬ 
cuted, and hurt in another sense by the excellent spirit of the 
one who was condemned. 

“Now I believe I have discovered the secret of that young 
man’s behavior. He had Christ in his soul. He had a rest 
and peace to which all of us were strangers. Why, when I 
was about to pass sentence, and asked him if he had any 
further word to give the court, he said: ‘Your honor, I wish 
to thank you and the gentlemen of the jury for the spirit of 
fairness shown during the trial. You need have no regret 
that you are obliged to pass this sentence. We may all well 
be sad that our statute books are cumbered with a few laws 
that work hardship to innocent and inoffensive citizens, and 
personally I hope to see the day come when our fair state will 
refuse longer to enforce this particular law which to-day sends 
me to prison. I submit gladly to the penalty, as a Christian 
ought. I forgive freely the men who have brought me this 
experience. And I want you all to know that in my heart 
there is a peace passing all understanding, a peace which will 
brighten every day and hour I shall spend behind the bars.’ 

“I sent him to prison, and in the prison he died. And from 
that day until now, I have had his picture much before me, 
and I have wanted to know what it was that made him the 
man he was.” 

Judge Kershaw’s Bible Also Marked 

“Judge, pardon me; but I too have found the peace which 
the young man had,” said Harold Wilson, “and I have found 
it since coming aboard the vessel. I have found it in this 
Sabbath truth which was presented to-day.” 

“Young man, I do not doubt you. You are the one, are 
you not, who is called ‘the man with the marked Bible’ ?” 

“Yes, sir; and I asked Mr. Anderson to read from my 
marked Bible to-day.” 








Interested Questioners 83 

Judge Kershaw picked up the Book, and glanced it 
through. There was moisture in his eyes. 

“Mr. Anderson,” he said, “this reminds me of my boyhood, 
when my parents sought to lead me to a religious life. Like 
many boys, I was foolishly inclined to make light of Chris¬ 
tianity; and ere I could realize it, my youthful days had 
passed, and I found myself graduated from college and en¬ 
tering upon my professional career without a hope. My edu¬ 
cation only served to crystallize my early unbelief; and all 
through the years since, I have seen little or nothing in the 
average church or its teachings to cause me to change. 

“One thought, however, has always followed me — a 
thought expressed by my mother. A few days before she 
died, she called me to her, and said: ‘Son, I know I have not 
always lived before you as I should, and you have your doubts 
about Christianity. But some day, I know not when, you will 
surely see that God’s word is true, that there are those who 
have proved it divine; and thus you will be led to yield your 
heart to the Author, and love and serve Him.’ You will not 
know, unless I tell you, why this Bible reminds me of those 
times so long ago. Well, it is marked as mother marked hers. 
And, strange to say, the Ten Commandments were specially 
remembered, even as in this. Mother was a firm believer in 
every one of the commandments of God. 

“But think of it! Here I am, an old man of seventy years. 
It is nearly time for me to go. Do you suppose this is the 
hour when mother’s prayer should be answered ?” 

Why Does Not the Church See It? 

There was a period of deep silence. All seemed to realize 
that a sacred decision was being made, a decision involving 
the salvation of a soul, in answer to a prayer offered by a 
devoted mother a half century before. 

And now Mr. Severance spoke: “Judge, this day has been 
a day of revelation to me also. But I must know more. Mr. 
Anderson, may I ask you a few brief questions ? For instance, 
if the seventh day is the Sabbath day, and if we are morally 
bound to make it our day of rest, why does the church as a 
whole not see and acknowledge it ? This troubles me.” 

“I have no doubt, Mr. Severance,” Mr. Anderson began, 
“that there are many causes which have led the professed 


84 


The Marked Bible 


Christian world to Observe Sunday rather than Sabbath. 
However, I may venture the remark that the Sabbath has 
been set aside for the same reason that other great moral 
duties have been neglected or rejected. You will remember- 
that the apostle Paul clearly foretold a time when professed 
Christians would ‘not endure sound doctrine/ but would ‘heap 
to themselves teachers, having itching ears/ and would Turn 
away their ears from the truth. 7 2 Timothy 4: 3, 4. 

“A brief examination of the Word shows that this evil 
course has been common all through the ages. Of the church 
in Isaiah’s day it is written: ‘Now go, write it before them 
in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time 
to come [prophets of our day, you see] forever and ever: 
that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that 

will not hear the law 
of the Lord: which 
say to the seers, See 
not; and to the 
prophets, Prophesy 


. . Timvr;..: ,, 

* . A- 


•Sunday, »Sept /> 



SUBJECTS TODAY 

11~ AM 

Psycho-Analysis 


8°- P.M. 

The Divinity 
of Man 


_ 

The people demanded “smooth things 
teachers actually hid their eyes from the truth, in 
order to satisfy their unfaithful hearers. 



not unto us right 
things, speak unto 
us smooth things, 
prophesy deceits. 7 
Isaiah 30:8-10. 

“At a later time, 
Ezekiel wrote of the 
church leaders, say¬ 
ing : ‘Her prophets 
have daubed them 
with untempered 
mortar, seeing vanity, 
and divining lies unto 
them, saying, Thus 
saith the Lord God, 
when the Lord hath 
not spoken. 7 And the 
connection clearly gives the subject under discussion. ‘Her 
priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy 
things: they have put no difference between the holy and pro¬ 
fane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean 
and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and 
I am profaned among them. 7 Ezekiel 22:28, 26. 


and their 











Interested Questioners 


85 


“How plain it is! Both the people and their leaders were 
unwilling to follow God’s word. The people demanded ‘smooth 
things’; and their teachers actually hid their eyes from the 
truth, in order to satisfy their unfaithful hearers. And, mark 
it, the Sabbath of the Lord was the thing from which the 
prophets turned and hid their eyes. And mark this also: 
That word of Ezekiel is prophetic of our day. 

“It has always been apparently easy for men to estimate 
lightly the word of God. Surely it is so now, when higher 
criticism finds ready access to both pulpit and pew, placing 
the writings of inspiration on the same level as the works of 
Shakespeare, Emerson, Spencer, and others. The day has 
come when even the Ten Commandments are regarded by 
many as out of date and in need of revision.” 

“Yes,” said one of those in the group, “I was told only 
yesterday, by a man who looked like a minister, that we can 
no longer hold the Bible as an absolutely unquestioned au¬ 
thority. He said that much of the Old Testament had been 
shown to be unhistorical, and that the miracles recorded in 
the Gospels were largely allegorical. I asked him particularly 
about the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and he only 
shrugged his shoulders and smiled.” 

“Of course, Mr. Severance,” continued Mr. Anderson, “not 
all the professed people of God have so far departed from 
the old paths that they have thus set the Word aside. There 
are many beautiful and notable exceptions. But if you would 
know why the great church of to-day, generally speaking, 
rejects the Sabbath truth, you will find the reason in the 
facts I have pointed out.” 

Faith Being Destroyed 

“Mr. Anderson,” said Judge Kershaw, “what you have 
given us from the prophetic Scriptures is being strikingly 
fulfilled at this very time. I have just completed the reading 
of a magazine article entitled, ‘Blasting at the Rock of Ages,’ 
which shows that all through our advanced institutions of 
learning, including our theological seminaries, open infidelity 
is taught. Positions are taken which completely nullify 
every moral principle contained in the word of God. I could 
hardly believe my eyes. And these are the schools from which, 
of course, our ministers are sent forth.” 


86 


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“I am not in the least disposed to criticize/’ Mr. Anderson 
responded, “for criticism is a dangerous practice. But you 
must know, for your own soul’s sake, the dangers of this 
time, and kindly warn against them. For instance, you have 
heard it said that truth cannot be known, and that the Bible, 
like a violin, plays whatever tune is desired, and that this is 
God’s plan. The statement is frequently made, that The 
truth of to-day is the error of to-morrow,’ and vice versa. 
But Jesus said, ‘Ye shall know the truth’ (John 8: 32), and, 
‘If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine’ 
(John 7:17). When a man hungers and thirsts for truth, 
the Holy Spirit reveals to him the deep things of God, and 
makes them a part of his very life. Bead 1 Corinthians 2: 
9-12. See also John 6:45; 16:13-15. 

“Again, you will hear it taught that if you are ‘only sin¬ 
cere’ in what you do, your service is accepted. This sounds 
well, but it is misleading. Sincerity is necessary, but it never 
excuses ignorance.” 

“Now let me understand you, Mr. Anderson,” said Mr. 
Severance. “Has not my sincere observance of Sunday been 
acknowledged of God ? I have surely tried to be a Christian.” 

“Yes, brother, you have undoubtedly enjoyed God’s love, 
because you gladly did all you knew to be right. But suppose 
you see the truth of the fourth commandment and then fail 
to follow it. Jesus said regarding those in His day, ‘If I had 
not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but 
now they have no cloak for their sin.’ John 15: 22. Paul 
pointed out the same principle, when he said, ‘The times of 
this ignorance God winked at,- but now commandeth all men 
everywhere to repent.’ Acts 17: 30. Sincerity in wrongdoing 
ceases to be possible when the light reveals the better way. 
Sincerity then obliges a man to change his course.” 

Harold Wilson, intensely enthusiastic in his new-found 
experience, and eager to learn, asked the privilege of another 
question. 

“Mr. Anderson, one of the ministers has told me that it is 
all right to keep the seventh day, but the only question is, 
Wliere shall we begin to count ? He said he kept the seventh 
day, but he began his count on Monday. What do you think 
about it f ’ 


Interested Questioners 


87 


“That is what I have been taught/’ added Mr. Severance. 

“I have already partially answered the question, but let 
us notice it further. 

“Turn to Exodus 16 and the story of the manna. God said 
He wanted to ‘prove’ or ‘try’ the people, as to whether they 
would walk in His law. The plan was that the people should 
gather their food every day from the first to the sixth. Each 
day for five days, they were to gather only as much as they 
needed for that day, planning to have nothing remain over 
till the morning. On the sixth day, however, they were to 
gather a supply for two days, the second portion being for 
use on the seventh day, when no manna fell. This was the 
Lord’s arrangement. 

“Now the count of the days was not left to man’s choice. 
God Himself did the numbering. And if anyone, purposely 
or otherwise, tried to make a change, and did not accommo¬ 
date himself to God’s order, there resulted only confusion 
and loss, besides definite reproof from the Lord. Evidently 
some attempted a change by trying to keep the food over till 
morning; but ‘it bred worms, and stank.’ Yerse 20. Others 
went out on the seventh day to gather manna (possibly be¬ 
cause they failed to secure the double portion of the sixth 
day), but found none. (Yerse 27.) It was absolutely im¬ 
possible to change the count. 

“Now note the message which came as a result of their 
careless disobedience: ‘How long refuse ye to keep My com¬ 
mandments and My laws V Yerse 28. The test of loyalty was 
upon the matter of right counting,— counting as God counted, 
with the Sabbath as the great objective. 

“It may be of interest to you to know that in early days, 
the Hebrew people were accustomed to relate each day of the 
week to the Sabbath, by a very unusual method: they named 
the days as ‘First into the Sabbath,’ ‘Second into the Sabbath,’ 
and so on through the entire week. The Sabbath was really 
counted every day. And never forget that by three miracles 
every week, God pointed out the particular and absolute sev¬ 
enth day of the week: first by granting a double portion of 
manna on the sixth day; second by withholding it altogether 
on the seventh day; and third by preserving the extra portion 
on the seventh day.” 

“Well, Mr. Anderson, that certainly settles the question 
of the count. Still, it isn’t altogether clear to me just why 


88 


The Marked Bible 


the absolute day is so necessary.” The speaker was Mr. 
Severance. 

“A simple illustration, I believe, will make this clear. Let 
me place before you seven glasses. Six are filled with water, 
one with rare and delicious fruit nectar. I say to you, If you 
will take the seventh glass, you will find one of the most de¬ 
lightful beverages ever known. You desire the thing of 
which I speak. Yet there is only one glass containing it, only 
one glass that is The seventh' glass, and you must take my 
count to find what you are after. If I may state it thus, the 



Six are filled with water, one with rare and delicious fruit nectar. 


blessing of the fruit nectar is wrapped up in my numbering 
of the glasses. 

“Just so it is with the Sabbath. God blessed the seventh 
day. He put His presence into that particular day and into 
no other. And if I find Him as my heart really longs to 
know Him, I must begin to count as He counted, making my 
first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh correspond 
to His. And when I do so, I am rewarded by actually finding 
Him, knowing Him, resting in Him. It is because I am with 
Him in the Sabbath, that I have rest. The true and intelli¬ 
gent Sabbath keeper, therefore, has in his service a blessing 
that not even a sincere Sunday keeper ever knows.” 

Mr. Severance Accepts the Sabbath Truth 

“I see it, Mr. Anderson, I see it,” declared Mr. Severance; 
“and this day I join you in the larger service of the Sabbath 
that God has given. Will you pray for me ? I specially need 
help in arranging my business.” 

“I praise the dear Lord, Mr. Severance, for this decision. 
It is the decision of faith, I am sure. God will help you in 
shaping your affairs for His service.” 








Interested Questioners 


89 


“I have in mind, however,” said Mr. Severance, “more than 
you think. This is a day of tremendous conviction. My busi¬ 
ness career all through the years has been along lines that the 
world may regard as legitimate; but something has told me 
this afternoon that if I would be holy, and know Him who 
is holy, and enjoy Him in His holy day, I must retrace many 
of my steps. I must adjust all my methods to different stand¬ 
ards, and go before my patrons and business associates in 
confession. Yes, even more, I shall have to let many a dollar 
revert to its real owner. Do you believe God will enable me 
to bear the cross V 9 

At this juncture, Captain Mann entered the room. 




“He hath showed thee, O 
man, what is good; and 
what doth the Lord require 
of thee, but to do justly, and 
to love mercy, and to walk 
humbly with thy God?” 

Micah 6: 8. 










CHAPTER XII 


A Sabbath Rescue from Drowning 

T the close of Mr. Anderson’s service in the parlor, Mr. 



Spaulding, in company with Mr. Gregory, had sought a 
quiet place on deck to di'scuss what had been said and done. 
They were both much agitated, though the latter was inclined 
to acknowledge the truth of many things he had heard. 

But while they talked together, Captain Mann passed near. 
Mr. Spaulding called to him. 

“Captain, just a moment of your time. I simply want to 
make an appeal. Can we not devise some plan to stop fur¬ 
ther spread of this Sabbath talk? It is not producing the 
best results, inasmuch as it stirs up the spirit of unwholesome 
argument, and sooner or later may be the means of unsettling 
the views of some very good Christian people who are aboard. 
That young man with the marked Bible is already completely 
out of the way, and I notice that he is influencing some people 
whose good sense ought to shield them. You see, captain, I 
am terribly afraid of fanaticism.” 


By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them 


“Well, Mr. Spaulding, you are aware that you are at 
liberty to plan as you wish. The freedom of the vessel is 
yours. But let me say to you, in the brief moment that I may 
stop, that the young man of whom you speak, Harold Wilson, 
has become, during the brief period since we left San Fran¬ 
cisco, such a splendid Christian, such a trustworthy and 
capable coworker, that I marvel. From a profligate, a drink¬ 
ing, swearing, gambling, thieving criminal, as I have known 
him, he has been transformed into the sober, praying, indus¬ 
trious, honest young man you behold to-day. This certainly 
must be the fruit of a good tree. And I confess that I myself 
have tasted and been made better. 

“I must hasten; but let me assure you that this is some¬ 
thing of which you need not be afraid. It is not fanaticism. 
There is a large amount of zeal, but it is founded on knowl¬ 
edge of the Bible. No one can go far astray who studies the 
Word in order to live it. And Harold Wilson is living it.” 

The captain passed quickly on and into the parlor. 


(90) 


A Sabbath Rescue from Drowning 91 

The view that met his eye as he entered was one which he 
was never to forget. There sat Mr. Severance, bowed over 
the table, wuth face buried in his hands. And as he entered, 
Harold Wilson, with Bible in hand, and with an arm thrown 
oyer the shoulder of the merchant, was bearing witness to 
him of the surety of God's promise, and of the wonderful 
blessing that had come to him in the truth of the fourth com¬ 
mandment. 

As Captain Mann beheld the spirit manifested by Harold 
— the spirit of the real soul winner and helper of those in 
trouble — his emotions overcame him, and tears filled his 
eyes. How strange, yet how beautiful, was this expression of 
tenderness in this hardy veteran of the sea! 

But not a word escaped his lips. He simply stepped over 
to Mr. Anderson, gripped his hand strongly and feelingly, 
and with quivering lip hastened on to duty. 

Woman Overboard! 

A shriek startled the little group in the dining room, and 
almost immediately the cry “Woman overboard" began to 
sound from one end of the vessel to the other. 

“Who is it ? Who is it ?" was on everybody’s tongue. But 
no one knew. 

The two clergymen — Mr. Spaulding and Mr. Gregory — 
rushed to the opposite side of the vessel, reaching the rail 
just in time to see Harold Wilson emerge from the main 
parlor, quickly lay down his Bible, take off his coat, and plunge 
into the sea. 

“Ah! How foolish! How foolish!’’ exclaimed Mr. Spaul¬ 
ding. “It means two lives instead of one. No living man can 
handle himself in the wake of this vessel." 

“But God help him!" was Mr. Gregory’s response. 

And God surely did help. The brave act of Harold was 
one of faith; and even while he battled with the waters, his 
thoughts went^ up to God for help and deliverance, and his 
prayer was graciously answered. 

His eye caught sight of a hand as it appeared for an in¬ 
stant above the swirling waters a few feet away, and he threw 
himself toward it with all the might at his command. 

The drowning woman’s dress was now in his hand, and 
quickly and deftly he made sure of his human treasure and 
started toward the vessel, 


92 


The Marked Bible 


“Thank God!” called out Mr. Spaulding. The passengers 
cheered and wept. 

Meanwhile Captain Mann had ordered the engines re¬ 
versed, and the great Tenyo Maru was brought to a dead stop, 
a lifeboat was lowered, and Harold and the yet unknown 
woman were soon safely lifted to the deck. 

Mr. Gregory pressed his way to the center of the scene, 
that he might grasp the hand of the young hero, and inci¬ 
dentally to be of whatever service possible. But as he was 
about to reach for Harold’s hand, the face of the rescued 
woman, now partially resuscitated, was before him. 

His face blanched, his strength gave way, and he fell 
heavily to the deck. 

It was his wife! 

The Fate She Had Hoped for Harold 

“Mr. Wilson,” said Mrs. Gregory, as she lay in her state¬ 
room, “I must tell you why I have sent for you. My husband 
here must know also. 

“I was at . the service yesterday in the parlor, and heard 
the Rev. Mr. Anderson discuss the Sabbath question; and 
while I am ashamed to say it, I was really angry at some 
things that were said. I didn’t like to hear them, and I didn’t 
want others to hear. And, of course, I blamed you. Some 
one had told' me that it was because of. your relations with 
the Rev. Mr. Anderson that the service was held; and when, 
at the last, I heard you say Amen,’ I said to myself, ‘I wish 
that young upstart would fall overboard, and thus deliver us 
from any more Sabbath talk.’ 

“After the meeting, I came to my room, and tried to forget 
the whole thing; but I couldn’t, so I returned after a time, 
and as I saw you still there, I was more bitter than ever. I 
passed the parlor door; but as I did so, my feelings over¬ 
came me, I grew dizzy (I have such spells when my feelings 
run away with me), and — well, I knew no more until I awak¬ 
ened on deck and learned that I had been delivered from a 
watery grave. And you, the object of my evil wishes, were 
chosen of God to be my rescuer! 

“Mr. Wilson, I am begging your forgiveness, which I am 
sure you will give; but I am begging more — I am going to 
ask you to take your Bible and tell me more about the truth 
which I have been trying to reject. Will you do it?” 


A Sabbath Rescue from Drowning 93 

Harold humbly acknowledged his great ignorance, and 
asked if she would not rather study with Mr. Anderson. 

“Do you think he would be willing to come?” she asked. 

“Oh, I am sure he would!” was the reply. And Harold 
hastened to bring his good friend. 

“Dr. Anderson,” said Mrs. Gregory,. “I am deeply in 
earnest to-day, and husband and I both desire further in¬ 
struction. The terrible happening of yesterday was from God, 
to correct us and make us willing to receive unadulterated 
teaching. Now, what I want to ask is, Why do you specially 
emphasize the question of the seventh-day Sabbath? Does 
God require you to do it ? And why is it that so many people, 
especially the ministers, are so determined not to listen to 
your message?” 

“Sister, your questions are rather broad, and really re¬ 
quire more study than the circumstances will permit. How¬ 
ever, they are to the point, and I am glad the Scriptures can 
give you an answer. 

“Let me call your attention first to the fact that along with 
marriage, the Sabbath is one of the great blessings that have 
come down to us from the Eden home. Marriage was designed 
to preserve a sacred relationship between members of the hu¬ 
man family; the Sabbath, to preserve a sacred relationship 
between the human family and the Creator. 

“The most casual reading of the fourth commandment 
shows the great purpose of the Sabbath. ‘Remember the Sab¬ 
bath day, to keep it holy. . . . For in six days the Lord made 
heaven and earth/ Exodus 20:8-11. The Sabbath was to 
keep in mind the making of the heaven and the earth. It is 
the memorial of that great work. It keeps before the mind 
God’s creative power. It calls upon us to obey Him because 
He is Creator, and, in its service, bequeaths to us the power 
necessary to overcome. True Sabbath keeping means constant 
surrender to God, and therefore has always been the one thing 
that has kept man from idolatry. 

“This is beautifully brought out in the words of Exodus 
31:17: ‘It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel 
forever/ And Ezekiel tells us, ‘I [the Lord] gave them My 
Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might 
know that I am the Lord that sanctify them/ Ezekiel 20: 
12, 20. The reason is that God, or Christ, puts Himself, His 
own presence, into the day, and through its acceptance, into 


94 


The Marked Bible 


the Sabbath keeper’s heart, and thus every Sabbath renews 
and strengthens faith in the Creator. 

A Bond Between God and His People Forever 

“You will note that the Sabbath is a sign between God and 
Israel forever. This refers not only to Jews, the mere fleshly 
descendants of Abraham, for they soon gave up real Sabbath 
keeping, and therefore did not know the Sabbath as a blessing. 
‘Israel’ means more than Jews. The term is one that includes 
the true believer in all ages, and down to the end of time. 
All Christians are spiritual Israelites. See Romans 2: 28, 29; 
John 1:47; Galatians 3:29. Hence all who would be kept 
in the way of righteousness will keep Sabbath, and find it a 
sign, a memorial, of His redeeming power. Creation and re¬ 
demption, you see, are the same, both calling for the Sabbath 
memorial.” 

“Yes, brother, I can see that,” said Mrs. Gregory. “Isn’t 
it beautiful?” 

“With this thought in mind, it is very easy to see why the 
Lord has always emphasized the truth of the Sabbath. As 
you remember, it was the test that God brought to Israel in 
Egypt (Exodus 5:5) ; it was the test thirty days before they 
came to Sinai (Exodus 16) ; and at Sinai, the fourth com¬ 
mandment was specially revealed. Nehemiah 9: 14. All the 
commandments were important — this goes without saying; 
but only the Sabbath is He said to have made ‘known.’ The 
Sabbath is peculiarly vital. 

“And now note this: When the time came that God per¬ 
mitted His people to go into captivity, to lose their place and 
their nation, He told them plainly it was because of Sabbath 
breaking,— that is, forgetfulness of Him. Compare Jeremiah 
17:19-27 and 2 Chronicles 36:14-21. Had they been faith¬ 
ful to His Sabbath, had they preserved their knowledge of 
Him as their Creatdr and Sovereign, the Babylonians could 
never have carried them away. 

“Listen also to the striking word of Isaiah, the gospel 
prophet: ‘If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from 
doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a 
delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor 
Him, . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and 
I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth.’ 


A Sabbath Rescue from Drowning 


95 


Isaiah 58:13, 14. How plain the prophet makes it, doesn’t 
he, that all spiritual power and uplift were to be found in the 
Sabbath of God! 

“I have said that Isaiah is ‘the gospel prophet.’ He is. 
This which we have read has reference to our own gospel time. 
God is calling, in Isaiah’s message, for us to turn our feet 
from the Sabbath,— to stop trampling it underfoot. And 
the promise is actually fulfilled to those who obey.” 

“Brother Anderson, Harold Wilson infpresses me as hav¬ 
ing found a great blessing,” said Mr. Gregory. 

“Yes, and in this very truth. He has kept only one Sab¬ 
bath, but he found a remarkable blessing in it. Really, dear 
people, it was what came into his soul from the Sabbath, that 
carried him over the ship’s side yesterday. He has told me 
this. And he is certain that God regarded his obedience, and 
answered his prayer in his finding you. He calls you his 
‘Sabbath-saved woman.’ ” 

“I don’t doubt it, not for a moment,” Mrs. Gregory re¬ 
plied; “and that is why I am really and truly opening my 
heart to-day.” 

Many Will Not Obey Their Convictions 

“But let me continue a bit further. In the fifty-sixth chap¬ 
ter of his book, Isaiah prophesies of a great Sabbath reform 
among the gentiles of these last days. Read verses 1-8, and 
you will see that it is specially a gospel message, and promises 
those who enter into a Sabbath covenant with Him ‘a place 
and a name better than of sons and of daughters.’ He will 
give them ‘an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.’ 
Everlasting life is involved. 

“Surely, then, some one must preach that Sabbath mes¬ 
sage at this time. Some one must specially emphasize its 
importance, even as God asks.” 

“Well, Brother Anderson, why is it, then, that the minis¬ 
ters — those of other denominations — do not accept these 
plain statements? They certainly are plain, though I never 
read them before. But the ministers have read them.” 

“I can tell you why some of them do not accept,” said 
Mr. Gregory. “They are a little too much as I am. They do 
not like to acknowledge that they have been wrong. If all 
the clergymen who really see the truth of this Sabbath ques- 


96 


The Marked Bible 


tion were to confess their convictions, there would be few 
left to offer opposition. I know whereof I affirm. Scores of 
them have privately admitted to me that the Sabbatarians 
are right.” 

“Well, husband, you have never said that before in my 
presence. I call that dishonesty.” 

“Better not say that, wife. Rather look at it as a blind¬ 
ness, which for a time hinders them from reading their own 
motives,” said Mr. Gregory. 

“Pardon me, dear friends,” said Mr. Anderson. “I have 
not completed the study, but I am sure you are both weary. 
The strain of yesterday’s experience has told on your strength, 
and you had better rest. I will therefore go. The Lord 
quickly restore you to your full strength. Good-by!” 







CHAPTER XIII 


Meeting God in the Way 

“TTUSBAND,” said Mrs. Gregory, when they were alone, 
XI “what are you going to do about this truth of the 
Sabbath ?” 

A rap announced a “short call” from Mr. Spaulding. 

“Brother Spaulding, I am so glad you came in,” said Mrs. 
Gregory, “for my husband and I have just been talking about 
a matter of personal duty, and I want to take you into our 
confidence.” 

Mr. Spaulding glanced about the stateroom somewhat 
nervously, instinctively detecting that the matter of “personal 
duty” was one which, above all others, he would at this time 
avoid. His distress was apparent, particularly when he saw 
lying near, Harold Wilson’s Bible, which in the young man’s 
haste had been left behind. 

“Perhaps you have not long to stay with us,” continued 
Mrs. Gregory, “so I will come at once to my point.” 

Mr. Spaulding’s eyes seemed to be riveted on a Scripture 
text which, as a motto for the voyage, Mrs. Gregory had 
pinned to the side wall of the stateroom. 

“You see, Brother Spaulding, husband and I have been 
taken through a hard experience. As you know, yesterday 
God sent me down through The valley of the shadow’; and 
as I consider all the circumstances, I am profoundly convinced 
that it was to teach me to be willing to bear my cross as the 
Lord Jesus would have me. 

“I have been bitterly opposed to the idea of observing the 
true Sabbath of the Lord, although ever since I was a child, 
I have heard something ever telling me that Sunday is not 
the Christian’s day of rest. Yesterday that bitterness nearly 
cost me my life, and only the heroic act of a Sabbath keeper 
saved me. However, I have come to see what God wants me 
to do, and I mean to do it. 

“Husband also sees. He too is convinced that the things 
spoken yesterday, and at other times also, are truth which 
calls for surrender on our part. My question is — and here 
I am treating you indeed as a confidential friend — Do you 

( 97 ) 


4 


98 


The Marked Bible 


not think we should both come out at once and openly take 
our stand in favor of the Sabbath? You are an ambassador 
for Christ, and I want you to give me your sincerest thought.” 

Little did the good woman know that the day before, at 
the very time she was precipitated into the sea, Mr. Spaul¬ 
ding was seeking to persuade her husband that Harold Wilson 
was a menace to the Christian belief of a vast majority of the 
passengers, and that Mr. Anderson was one who should be 
shunned by both ministers and people. 

Mr. Gregory sensed the embarrassment of the situation, 
and sought to alleviate Mr. Spaulding’s distress. 

“Brother Spaulding,” he said, “do you not regard it as re¬ 
markable, in view of what we were discussing at the time of 
the accident, that Mr. Wilson should have been the one to 
save my wife’s life ? And mark you, he himself has said that 
the truth which has recently come to him was what gave him 
inspiration and faith to jump overboard and effect the rescue. 
Bo you not look upon it as remarkable ?” 

“Yes, Brother Gregory, I do; and I confess myself re¬ 
proved for what I said.” 

“But you must answer my question, Brother Spaulding,” 
Mrs. Gregory insisted. “Do you not think we should both 
keep the Sabbath, even though it cost us everything we have 
in the world, when we have come to understand that God is 
calling upon us to do so ?” 

Mr. Spaulding Acknowledges His Error 

“Mrs. Gregory, you have placed me in an exceedingly try¬ 
ing position, yet you have done so unwittingly. You may not 
be aware that I have been strongly opposed to the seventh-day 
Sabbath idea, and have regarded it as a delusion, something 
that was calculated to hinder the progress of the gospel in this 
time of great world evangelism. But to be perfectly frank, I 
will say that it is everyone’s privilege and duty to obey his 
conscience.” 

“Brother Spaulding,” queried Mr. Gregory, “do you feel 
absolutely confident that you are right in the positions you 
have taken regarding the Sabbath? For instance, are you 
ready to stake your salvation on the thought that the Sab¬ 
bath is not to be kept, because the law is abolished? Keally, 
didn’t Jesus honor the Ten Commandments, and die to satisfy 
their claims? Does not the story of Calvary show that the 


Meeting God in the Way 


99 


law of the new covenant, the law written in the heart, is the 
law proclaimed from Sinai! Before God, tell me. Let us be 
honest with our own hearts.” 

“Well, Brother Gregory, I don’t know how to analyze my 
position. When I read such scriptures as Matthew 5:17, 18; 
Romans 3 : 31; 8:3, 4; James 2 : 8-12; Matthew 19 :17, and 
other like passages, there does flit through my mind a bit of 
doubt. No, I cannot truly say I am absolutely confident.” 

“Another question, then,” continued Mr. Gregory: “Ought 
we not to regard the example and teaching of Jesus as vital?” 

“Yes, I believe we ought.” 

Mr. Spaulding began to relax, and a spirit of freedom 
which he almost unwillingly enjoyed began to take possession 
of him. 

“Well, that is my opinion too,” continued Mr. Gregory; 
“and for a long time, I have had in mind that if I would 
yield my pride, and freely follow the Saviour’s plan, I would 
be a Sabbath keeper. He certainly was, yet not as a Jew; 
Jesus was the Universal Man, and therefore His Sabbath 
keeping was of universal import. He was my example, and 
I see no way to escape the conclusion that I should do as 
He did. 

A Child of Apostasy 

“You told me, Brother Spaulding, that you had been con¬ 
nected with one of the seminaries conducted by your people, 
and that you taught church history. Tell me, please, has not 
your study shown you that the Sabbath of the fourth com¬ 
mandment was kept by the apostles and by the church 
generally for hundreds of years after Christ ? Is it not true 
that the early church was influenced by the forms and cere¬ 
monies of ancient pagan sun worship, and that gradually 
she adopted the customs of the time, Sunday observance be¬ 
ing one of them? And, to make a long story short, was it 
not the church, fallen and corrupted, seeking for worldly 
position and power, that, in the fourth century, actually sub¬ 
stituted Sunday for the Sabbath, and compelled the recog¬ 
nition of it by law ?” 

“Brother Gregory, you are down to real heart work now,” 
was Mr. Spaulding’s reply, “and I am going to be more than 
frank. I am going to tell you what I have never breathed 
to a soul before; namely, that all you have said and even more 
is true. Without any doubt, Sunday as a day of rest is only 


100 


The Marked Bible 


a child of apostasy. There is not a snatch of evidence, in any 
of the writings of the fathers, to prove that it has any claim 
to divine sanction. I know all this. 

“But I have looked at the matter from another angle — 
I have given respectful consideration to the thought that as 
Sunday was the day of the resurrection, we could properly 
celebrate that glorious event by worshiping on the day which 
witnessed it. I must say, though, that if I were on my dying 
bed, I should not want to make any strong claim for the prac¬ 
tice. Certainly God never commanded it.” 

“Then tell me, Brother Spaulding,” said Mrs. Gregory, 
“how in the world could you stand before the people week 
after week and teach something of which you were not abso¬ 
lutely sure? Don’t you believe the Bible?” 

Only Playing with the Bible 

“Sister Gregory, let me bare my heart a bit further. You 
have now suggested the real difficulty of the whole proposi¬ 
tion. I believe I have been playing with the. word of God. I 
recognize that there has come into my life a something which 
has undermined my old-time confidence. The Bible has ceased 
to be a really authoritative divine Word. I have treated it, in 
a measure, as though it were from men rather than from the 
Lord; and on that account, I have argued just to carry my 
point, and not to find the truth.” 

“I have done the same, to some extent,” said Mr. Gregory. 

“Well, are you both intending to continue that course?” 
asked Mrs. Gregory. “It seems to me that God is trying very 
earnestly here to-day to help us all to change.” 

“And become Sabbatarians, Sister Gregory?” Mr. Spaul¬ 
ding questioned. 

“I didn’t say that, yet maybe that is what any true and 
complete change would mean. You know, Brother Spaulding, 
that if we do take God’s word as an inspired oracle and as 
our only guide in living, there is no escaping the fact that we 
are under absolute moral obligation to obey the fourth com¬ 
mandment. Isn’t that so ?” 

“Certainly,” was the answer. “There is not a hint of any 
other day divinely set apart.” 

“So far as the Bible is concerned, then, the Sabbatarians 
are correct, are they not ?” 


Meeting God in the Way 


101 


“Yes, without doubt. But, oh, the idea of keeping a day 
different from what almost the entire Christian church ob¬ 
serves ! It is that that hurts me. Why, one actually becomes 
the laughingstock of society. I myself have called the 
seventh-day people ‘Christ killers’ and ‘fanatics.’” 

“You certainly have, Brother Spaulding,” said Mr. Greg¬ 
ory. “Those were the terms you were using yesterday when 
we were interrupted by the cry, ‘Woman overboard!’ ” 

“Well, I never knew before that ministers of the gospel 
were so unwilling to yield to what they knew to be right. 
And do you mean to tell me that there are others in the pulpit 
who talk one thing and believe another f’ 

“Wife, you must be patient and charitable in this matter, 
even though you learn of what seems to be dishonesty. I don’t 
like to call it that; rather, I would call it confusion, resulting 
from long years of training in the wrong direction. As 
Brother Spaulding has said, he has scarcely been able to ana¬ 
lyze his own views. We have gone on, however, teaching 
many times what we have not known to be true, even though 
we have not taught what we have known to be false. It is 
perfectly safe to say that the majority of the ministry of to¬ 
day occupy this position. But the circumstances of this 
trip,— the contact with Harold Wilson and his marked Bible, 
the attitude of Captain Mann, the work of Mr. Anderson, the 
discussions among Brother Mitchell, Brother Spaulding 2 and 
me, and finally, the providence of yesterday, which has spoken 
so pointedly to my soul,— all these have caused me to see that 
I must take an entirely different course, and I purpose that 
everybody aboard this vessel shall know what God has done 
for me.” It was thus that Mr. Gregory, led by the Spirit of 
God, finally and fully committed himself. 

“Before you go, Brother Spaulding, won’t you take the 
Bible there and read for us ? Read the fortieth psalm, please.” 

Mr. Spaulding gladly acceded to the request of Mr. 
Gregory, and picking up the marked Bible, turned to the 
psalm indicated and began to read. Slowly and feelingly he 
read, a great tenderness taking possession of his heart. Scores 
and scores of times during his ministry, he had read this same 
scripture; but never before had its voice seemed to speak so 
directly to him, or its message appeared so sweet. He reached 
the eighth verse, and this he found underscored. In the 
margin was written the following: “God’s will is God’s law. 


102 


The Marked Bible 


To do His will — to keep His law — is the true and only 
object of life. Ecclesiastes 12:13. Not wealth, not health, 
not happiness, not salvation, not philanthropy, but doing 
God’s gracious will. He who delights in the will of God has 
found the climax of all holiness, and will surely be instru¬ 
mental, as Jesus was, in leading others to love and serve. 
This is the revelation of God in man and through man.— 
Mother.” 

Mr. Spaulding stopped. The word “Mother” at the close 
of the note aroused in him a peculiar interest. 

“What does this mean ?” he said. “Who is the mother who 
wrote this comment ?” 

While the words were on his lips, there was a light rap 
at the door. In response to the usual “Come in,” Harold 
Wilson entered. He had missed his Bible, and had come for it. 

“Sit down, my boy,” said Mr. Gregory. “We are just 
about to have prayer with Brother Spaulding.” 

That sounded strange to Harold; and what was stranger, 
his Bible was in Mr. Spaulding’s hand. What did it mean? 

Mr. Spaulding soon satisfied Harold’s curiosity by ex¬ 
plaining the circumstances, and then, in a gentle and fatherly 
way, so unlike his usual demeanor, said: “Son, what is the 
meaning of the word ‘Mother’ signed to this note here ? I am 
interested, because the note sounds so much like the words of 
my own mother, who was accustomed also to mark her Bible.” 

Gladly indeed did Harold relate the story of his faithful 
mother, of his effort to escape her influence and teaching, of 
the marked Bible which he found at sea and later threw away, 
of his life in sin, of his trial and sentence, of the marked Bible 
at the Oakland pier — marked by request of his mother while 
she was on her deathbed — of Mr. Anderson’s acquaintance 
with the dear mother, and of Captain Mann and his experi¬ 
ence. All this and much more seemed to Harold a chapter 
stranger than fiction, and he told it as only one who believes in 
an overshadowing Providence can. 

“And that’s why I am trying to follow my Saviour,” said 
Harold. “My mother’s prayer has been answered through 
Mr. Anderson. The verse you have just read is my special 
guide, and I wrote my name under the word ‘Mother,’ so I 
could say in my heart that I was indorsing her message.” 

Mr. Spaulding prayed. The Spirit of God was there to 
indite. As he prayed, his heart broke before God. Mr. and 


Meeting God in the Way 


103 


Mrs. Gregory shared fully his blessing of spiritual uplift, and 
amens sought to find expression through lips too tender to 
articulate. When he prayed for Harold, “the hero of faith” 
of the day before, and for Mr. Anderson, “the devoted brother 
who sought truly to reveal Christ,” Harold’s cup was full. 

The prayer ended, Harold quietly withdrew, and Mr. 
Spaulding also hastened to his stateroom. 

But before the gong called Harold to his work, he went to 
Mr. Anderson’s quarters, and told him what had occurred in 
the stateroom he had just left. 

“Thank God,” said the minister, “the day of miracles is 
not past.” 



CHAPTER XIV 


Light from Prophecy 

I T was Sabbath morning, a bright, beautiful day. Several 
days had now elapsed since the almost miraculous rescue 
of Mrs. Gregory; and Harold Wilson had frequently been 
stopped here and there by interested persons who desired to 
ask him about his conversion, his marked Bible, and his an¬ 
swered prayer in the saving of the minister’s wife. 

And besides the interest shown in the young man, there 
were rumors afloat that one of the clergymen had “become a 
seventh-day man.” But no one seemed to know whether it was 
Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Spaulding, or Mr. Gregory. 

Until this Sabbath morning, no one had given particular 
attention to a certain man, evidently educated and cultured, 
who had kept himself somewhat isolated, and attended none 
of the religious services aboard the vessel, but spent much 
time reading some well worn books that he carried with him. 

Determined that the journey should not end before he 
had at least made an effort at acquaintance, Mr. Anderson, 
finding him at his accustomed reading, took a seat beside him 
on deck, and as his custom was, inquired if the man was a 
Christian. 

A Catholic Points Out Protestantism’s Inconsistency 

“Yes, sir; I am a Roman Catholic, a member of the only 
true and apostolic church,” the stranger said, very positively. 

“Ah! Well, I am glad to meet you, sir,” was the minister’s 
reply. “I am a Protestant, but that does not hinder me from 
feeling brotherly.” 

“Do you say you are a Protestant ? There are no Protes¬ 
tants— no consistent Protestants,” he said. “Why, I am 
reading at this very time the proof of my statement.” 

“What is your proof, friend, that there are no true Protes¬ 
tants ? That is a rather broad statement,” said Mr. Anderson. 

“Well, however broad it may sound, it is true. There are 
no consistent Protestants, for none of them take the Bible 
and the Bible only as their rule of faith. They say they 
follow the Bible; but in many things, they reject it altogether, 
( 104 ) 


Light from Prophecy 


105 


and follow the teachings and customs of the Catholic Church. 
For instance, you know very well that you have no Scripture 
for your Sunday — not a single word. The Bible teaches 
you that you should keep to-day — Saturday — not to¬ 
morrow. The Catholic Church, by authority of the apostle 
Peter, changed the day of worship from the seventh day to 
the first day of the week, and the whole religious world has 
adopted the change. And then to think that they persist in 
calling themselves Protestants! It is disgusting/’ 

“But not all Protestants do as you say. There are ex¬ 
ceptions.” 

“So far as I know, they all do. Of course, they grow in¬ 
dignant and make vigorous denial, but they do not dare come 
out and face the actual facts. Our church, through Cardinal 
Gibbons’s paper, has challenged the whole Protestant world to 
show that they are not following its teachings rather than 
the Bible in their keeping of Sunday; but there has never 
been an answer. The reason is, there is no answer to be given. 
Every intelligent Protestant clergyman who has studied 
church history knows that Sunday worship springs from our 
church. And so we say that, taking a part of our religion, 
they ought consistently to take it all. In fact, we look for 
all of you to come back into the true fold. 

A Thousand Dollars Unclaimed 

“A number of years ago,” he continued, “one of our priests 
offered a thousand dollars to anyone who would bring even 
one text from the Bible to show Sunday to be the divine day 
of rest. But no one has ever appeared to claim the reward.” 

“No,” said Mr. Anderson, “and no one ever will. Such a 
text cannot be found.” 

“Then why do you go on fooling yourself and others by 
keeping Sunday?” 

“I do not,” was the reply. 

“Oh, you don’t keep any day, I suppose.” 

“Yes, I observe the seventh day of the week. I am a 
Seventh-day Adventist. Now let me make you a proposition: 
Will you offer a reward of a thousand dollars to anyone who 
will prove from the Bible that your church did change the 
Sabbath?” 

The man closed the catechism in his hand, looked Mr. An¬ 
derson squarely in the eye, and asked: “Who are you, any¬ 
way? What do you mean?” 


106 


The Marked Bible 


“I mean/’ said the pastor, “that I agree with you that 
your church changed the Sabbath, and that I am ready to 
show you, from the word of God, that you are correct.” 

“All right, provided you will use my Bible. And I will 
give you a hundred dollars if you make good your claims. It 
will be worth that much to me in handling the next Sunday 


ff 


m 


A DOCTRINAL CATECHISM. 


A. The Christian Church has surely a right, 
which even tire Jevvish Church possessed. 

Q. Where do you find, in the Old Testa¬ 
ment, feasts of precept instituted by the syna¬ 
gogue? 

A. In the Book of Esther, chap. 9th, and in' 
the last chapter of the Book of Judith. 

Q. Have you any other way of proving that 
the Church has power to institute festivals of 
precept I 

A. .Had she not. such power, she could not 
have done that in which all modern religionists 
agree with hershe could not have substituted 
the observance of Sunday the first day of the 
week, for the observance of Saturday the sev¬ 
enth day, a change, for which there is no Scrip 
Jural authority. 


Q. 

these forbid 
ted sin ? 

A. Cerl 
would 
Church. 

Q, Ma] 
enteretk 
' A. Ye 

is. the dis] 
..clean;; 
Eye.put j 
sage all|j 
ing, not | 
of his 
un\ 


The book had opened to the chapter devoted to church authority. 


man I meet. But remember, it must be from our Donay 
version.” 

Mr. Anderson readily agreed; and the man, who had now 
introduced himself as James Conan, went after his Bible, 
leaving his catechism in the deck chair. 

“What have yon here, brother?” asked Judge Kershaw, 
who happened along while Mr. Anderson was waiting; and 
stooping, he picked up the little book and opened it. 

“A Catholic catechism! Well, this is strange literature for 
a Protestant pastor!” 

The book had opened to the chapter devoted to church au¬ 
thority, and the judge incidentally read: “Q. Have yon any 
other way of proving that the Church has power to institute 
festivals of precept? A. Had she not such power, she could 
not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with 








Light from Prophecy 


107 


her;— she could not have substituted the observance of Sun¬ 
day the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday 
the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural 
authority.” 

Evidently the judge had never before read the statement, 
and he appeared greatly surprised; but an explanation was 
impossible, as Mr. Conan now returned, and, handing Mr. 
Anderson the Bible, renewed his conversation. 

“Mr. Conan, you believe and receive the entire Bible, do 
you not f'’ was Mr. Anderson’s first question. 

“Yes, sir; every good Catholic does.” 

“I knew you must; for in the footnote that I find here in 
2 Peter, I read: ‘Every part of the Holy Scriptures was 
written by men inspired by the Holy Ghost, and declared as 
such by the church.’ ” 

“Of course, Mr. Anderson, my belief is subject to the teach¬ 
ing of the church,” Mr. Conan added. 

“Well, let us note what the Bible says. 

Mr. Anderson Explains a Prophecy 

“In the book of Daniel, chapter 7, we are told of a vision 
given the prophet, a vision which revealed to him four great 
beasts,— a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a beast without name. 
The footnote says, ‘Viz., the Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and 
Roman empires.’ Of the correctness of this position there is 
no doubt. 

“In the vision, the prophet saw ‘ten horns’ on the fourth 
beast, and the footnote reads, ‘Ten horns , that is, ten king¬ 
doms among which the empire of the fourth beast shall be 
parceled.’ This too, without question, is correct; for between 
the years 351 a. d. and 476 A. d., the western empire was di¬ 
vided into exactly ten parts,— Franks, Alemanni, Burgun¬ 
dians, Suevi, Vandals, Visigoths, Anglo-Saxons, Lombards, 
Ostrogoths, and Heruli. 

“After the ten horns (or kingdoms) appeared, the prophet 
said, ‘another little horn sprung out of the midst of them: 
and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence 
thereof: and behold eyes like the eyes of a man were in this 
horn, and a mouth speaking great things.’ Between the years 
493 a. d. and 538 a. d., exactly three of the horns (or kings) 
mentioned were plucked up, according to the prophecy. They 


108 


The Marked Bible 


were the Heruli, in Italy; the Vandals, in Africa; and the 
Ostrogoths, in Rome.” 

“I am familiar with that history,” remarked Mr. Conan; 
“and yon may be aware that they were overthrown because 
of their heretical positions, especially the Ostrogoths. The 
bishop of Rome was the one person who negotiated with the 
eastern empire for the cleansing of the eternal city.” 

“Yes, you are right, Mr. Conan; it was a religious con¬ 
troversy that brought about the downfall of those three king¬ 
doms. They were Arian in faith, and the church saw to it 
that they were annihilated,” said Mr. Anderson. 

“But now mark: The horn that put them down had ‘a 
mouth speaking great things/ Verse 8. In verse 24, this 
same horn is said to ‘bring down three kings’; and then the 
prophet adds, ‘And he shall think himself able to change times 
and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a 
time, and times, and half a time/ 

“I may not take time now to go largely into details, but 
will call your attention to the last feature of the description •— 
that of the time. A ‘time’ is a year, even as the footnote here 
states. In this prophecy, it is a prophetic year, equal to 360 
prophetic days. According to Ezekiel 4: 6, a prophetic day 
equals a literal year. The Scripture reads, ‘A day for a year, 
a day for a year I have appointed to thee/ I have then the 
following: 

Time.360 years 

Times .720 years 

Half a time. 180 years 

Total .1,260 years 

“In Revelation 12: 6, 14, this same period is clearly shown 
to be one thousand two hundred and sixty days, or years; 
while in Revelation 13: 5, it is stated to be ‘forty and two 
months’ (thirty days to the Jewish month), which gives the 
same number.” 

Mr. Conan apparently approved, as he was logically obliged 
to do, the points thus far made, though it was clear he was 
beginning to see what must be to him an unwelcome conclusion. 

“Twelve hundred and sixty years is the time during which 
this little horn would ‘speak words,’ ‘crush the saints,’ and 
‘think himself able to change the times and laws.’ What are 
the facts of history? 







Light from Prophecy 


109 


“In 533 a. d v Justinian, emperor of Eastern Rome, issued 
a decree declaring the bishop of Rome the corrector of heretics 
and ‘head over all the churches/ Immediately the work of 
putting down Arianism was begun with new vengeance, in 
order that the decree might become effective; and the very 
next year, the Yandals were subjugated, this work being fol¬ 
lowed in 538 by the uprooting of the Ostrogoths. In 538 a. d., 
therefore, the bishop of Rome found himself the undisputed 
head of the great spiritual world, by royal decree, and from 
that date began his work outlined in the prophecy. 

“Dating forward twelve hundred and sixty years from 
538 a. d., we are brought down to 1798 a. d. Was that a re¬ 
markable year in the history of the church of which the bishop 
of Rome was head ? Ah, that was the time when the army of 
France took the head of the church prisoner, broke the power 
he had so long wielded, and carried him into captivity. The 
prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled almost to a day.” 

“Mr. Anderson,” Mr. Conan said rather excitedly, “you are 
trying to prove the Catholic Church antichrist. This is the 
worst thing I ever heard.” 

“Pardon me, Mr. Conan; but have I not taken it all from 
your Bible, as you suggested ?” 

“Well, pass it for the present. What about the Sabbath 
change? You have not proved anything yet as to the matter 
with which we began.” 

“Very good, let us proceed,” said Mr. Anderson. 

“The prophecy definitely states that this little horn should 
‘think himself able to change times and laws/ What laws are 
pointed out? Read the whole verse and see. The horn is 
working against God,— against God’s name, against God’s 
people, and against God’s laws. And right here let me ask 
you a question: Does not your literature teach that the pope, 
speaking ex cathedra, has authority to set aside the words of 
Scripture for the good of the church ?” 

“I must acknowledge that it does.” 

“Does not your catechism, which you have in your hand, 
actually set before you a changed form of the law of God?” 

“I do not know,” Mr. Conan replied. 

Taking the catechism proffered, Mr. Anderson turned to 
the chapter devoted to the commandments, and read, at the 
same time comparing with Mr. Conan’s Bible. 


110 


The Marked Bible 


“Now, Mr. Conan, notice. The fourth command is changed 
in your catechism, and calls for Sunday instead of Sabbath 
worship. And right over here the change is cited as proof 
that the church has authority to appoint other special days 
of service. In other words, your church actually confesses 
to changing the word of God. As you told me at the begin¬ 
ning, she changed the day.” 

Evidence Acceptable in Any Court 

Judge Kershaw had been only an interested listener. But 
now he spoke, saying: “Mr. Anderson has given evidence which 
would be accepted in any court of law. It is a case in which 
the defendant has been proved guilty not only by direct testi¬ 
mony of unimpeachable witnesses, but by his own confession 
as well.” 

“Mr. Conan, these are hard things; but let me go a step 
further,” continued Mr. Anderson. “The Church of Rome 
has fulfilled another great prophecy, that of 2 Thessalonians 
2: 3, 4, which speaks of the ‘man of sin/ The son of perdition/ 
‘who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, 
or ♦that is worshiped, so that he sitteth in the temple [the 
church] of God, showing himself that he is God/ The pope 
has put himself above God in setting aside a portion of His 
law; he has assumed titles that belong to God only; he has 
allowed himself, as Christ’s pretended vicar, to receive worship 
and adoration; and all this has been in the temple — the 
church — of God. Is it not true, then, that the Church of 
Rome is the power that fulfills Daniel 7: 25, and that changed 
the Sabbath of Jehovah?” 

“Mr. Anderson, this is terrible. Do the priests know these 
things ?” 

“Yes, my brother, many of them do; and not only the 
priests, but Protestant ministers as well.” He then read 
Ezekiel 22: 26. 

Mr. Conan seemed stunned, but in no wise resentful. He 
was on a mission for the church. What should he now do 
about it ? 


CHAPTER XV 


A Choice That Is Vital 

M R. ANDERSON had no sooner reached his stateroom 
than a messenger boy called with a note, and said that he 
had been asked to wait for a written reply. 

The note was from Mrs. Slocum, one of the ladies from 
San Francisco, who had been so impressed by the pastor’s 
prayer during the service of the Tuesday previous. It read 
as follows: 

“My Dear Mr. Anderson: 

“For several days, there has been developing an increasing 
desire on the part of many of the passengers to hear from you 
concerning the question of the Sabbath. The matter seems 
to us of such importance that we feel to press you once more 
into service. Will you address us to-morrow (Sunday) in the 
parlor, of course choosing such phase of the subject as you 
may deem best ? Kindly reply by messenger. 

“Signed (Mrs.) Frances Slocum.” 

In justice to Mr. Anderson, it must be said he was not one 
who sought opportunity to minister propaganda, nor did he 
believe in that most unfortunate practice termed proselyting. 
His was a mission of true soul winning. But one purpose 
actuated him; namely, to preach Christ and Him crucified. 
He believed thoroughly, however, in the necessity of teaching 
doctrine; for without that, there would be no guide to con¬ 
duct, no track over which the believer could successfully direct 
his train of life to the kingdom of God. 

The invitation extended, revealed to him real heart 
hunger, or, changing the figure, soil that was ready for the 
sowing of the seed. He therefore penned a short note of ac¬ 
ceptance, and began to give thought to what he should say. 

Little did he know that God had ordained the service to be 
one of the most momentous in his life. 

Captain Mann’s Prayer 

The hour came, and the parlor was filled. Mr. Spaulding 
and Mr. and Mrs. Gregory sat in the front, their faces really 
beaming with anticipation. Judge Kershaw occupied a com¬ 
manding position, while near by were Mr. Severance, and 

(111) 


112 


The Marked Bible 


Harold Wilson, with his Bible in his hand. Of course, Mrs. 
Slocum and her friends were where they could see and hear 
all; and strangely enough, Mr. Conan’s face was seen in the 
audience. 

How different was the atmosphere of this service from that 
of a few days before! Within so brief a space of time, the 
grace of God had wrought mightily on hearts, yet working 
through the humblest of agencies. To-day there was freedom 
in the lives of both ministers and people, which had never 
before been known, because never before had they yielded to 
the truth, which makes and keeps free. John 8 : 32, 36. 

To the utter astonishment of a large number present, Cap¬ 
tain Mann opened the meeting by prayer,— a prayer such as 
that parlor had never heard before, and perhaps would not 
hear again. 

“0 God in heaven,” he began with trembling tone, “we in¬ 
deed thank Thee at this hour that Thou hast called us to Thy 
side. We thank Thee for Thy goodness which has followed 
us all through our lives. We thank Thee for our beautiful 
mothers, who, while we were children, sought under Thy 
direction to cause our feet to walk the paths of righteousness, 
who taught us to pray, who taught us to love and obey Thy 
commandments. And surely Thou art better than mothers, 
for Thou madest them and gavest them to us. So we can 
and do trust Thee. We want to-day to have Thee take us and 
hold us in Thy great, strong arms. We are tired of the world 
and its folly. Take us therefore, Saviour, and give us rest, 
as Thou hast promised. We yield to Thy Spirit. Now teach 
us. Guide us into the very fullness of truth. Thou art guid¬ 
ing, and we are following. However unwilling we may have 
been, we are not unwilling to-day. And Blessed One, search 
through this company, and help, greatly help all who are long¬ 
ing for perfect victory. There are some here who are learning 
new things, and maybe hard to receive; but help them learn. 
Bring us fully out of the darkness of all erroneous belief, and 
give us courage to do the right no matter what the cost, that 
one day, at the journey’s end, we may see our mothers again, 
and see Thee in glory. Grant it all because of Thy promise 
and because of our great need. Through the merits of Jesus, 
Thy Son and our Saviour, we ask it. Amen.” 

There were frequent amens; and as the captain arose from 
his knees -— for he had knelt to pray — more than one hand- 


A Choice That Is Vital 


113 


kerchief was used to dry eyes that had been moistened by 
tender memories of early days. 

Mr. Anderson Uses the Marked Bible 

Mr. Anderson arose and was about to speak; but ere he 
could do so, Mrs. Slocum spoke. 

“Pastor/’ she said, “are you willing to use the marked 
Bible on this occasion? Somehow the prayer has caused me 
to regard this meeting as a kind of mothers’ meeting, and 
this Bible is surely a mother’s Bible. This is only a bit of 
sentiment, it is true; yet it will prove a blessing to some.” 

Harold Wilson gladly brought forward the Bible, and 
placed it on the speaker’s stand. Thus a mother’s voice con¬ 
tinued to speak, a mother’s prayer to be answered. How truly 
do one’s works follow when God is permitted to have His way 
in the life! 

“My friends,” said Mr. Anderson, “as you probably know, 
I am speaking to-day by request. There are those who are 
eager to know more fully of the truth of the gospel as revealed 
in the Sabbath of the Lord; and to help such, I will briefly 
set before you a few principles not before noticed. I can do 
no better, I think, than to answer a question that was handed 
in by some one last Tuesday. The question reads, ‘What do 
you understand by the mark of the beast in Revelation 13:17?’ 

“Without doubt, I must be brief; so you will gladly allow 
me the privilege of omitting the usual sermon style of phrase¬ 
ology, and treating you as a class of students, who may inter¬ 
rupt with questions as you desire. 

“I will first call your attention to the fact that ‘the beast’ 
of Revelation 12, 13, and 17 is earthly power, earthly govern¬ 
ment, under the influence of Satan and controlled by the 
church, standing in opposition to God. It is, so far as Reve¬ 
lation 13 is concerned, the power of earthly government 
swayed by the papal church, which for ‘forty and two months’ 
of prophetic time (one thousand two hundred and sixty literal 
years, reaching from 538 a. d. to 1798 a. d.) spoke ‘great things 
and blasphemies,’ and to whom ‘it was given’ ‘to make war 
with the saints, and to overcome them.’ See verses 5-7. It 
was that terrible system known as ‘the man of sin,’ ‘the son 
of perdition,’ which took its place in the church of God, se¬ 
cured control of the Roman empire, put tradition in the place 
of the Bible, and actually changed God’s law, substituting 


114 


The Marked Bible 


Sunday for the Sabbath. See 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4; Daniel 
7:25; and other scriptures. All these things are matters of 
history, and may be read by all. 

“You will see at a glance, therefore, that The mark of the 
beast’ must be something intimately associated with the 
papacy, in its work of opposing God’s truth and people; for 
Revelation 14: 9-11 distinctly states that to receive this mark 
puts one into direct warfare against God, and makes him a 
subject of wrath. The mark, then, is a terribly serious propo¬ 
sition ; and surely inspiration must make plain to us what it is. 

“So far as the mere word is concerned, ‘mark’ is equiva¬ 
lent to ‘seal’ or ‘sign.’ The words are used interchangeably. 
For instance, in Ezekiel 9 : 4, God tells the heavenly messenger 
to ‘set a mark upon the foreheads' of the men who honor Him; 
while in Revelation 7 : 3 we find these same people ‘ sealed . . . 
in their foreheads.’ In Romans 4:11, the words ‘sign’ and 
‘seal’ stand as equivalents: ‘He received the sign of circum¬ 
cision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had.’ 
It would be perfectly proper, therefore, to speak of the mark 
of God; for one would be well understood as meaning the seal 
of God, or, if you please, the sign of God. 

“To put the matter as it really is, the beast has its mark, 
its sign, its seal; and opposed are God’s mark, God’s sign, 
God’s seal. To have the mark, or sign, or seal of the beast is 
to die; to have the mark, or sign, or seal of God is to live, and 
to live forever. 

The Fourth Commandment God’s Seal 

“But now we come to the really interesting part of the 
matter. These terms —‘mark,’ .‘sign,’ ‘seal’— are used in the 
word of God with special reference to law, or legal documents. 
Jezebel ‘wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with 
his seal.’ 1 Kings 21: 8. The decree of Haman for the de¬ 
struction of the Jews in the days of Esther was ‘in the name 
of King Ahasuerus,’ and ‘sealed with the king’s ring.’ Esther 
3:12. This was the thought of the signet ring — the name 
ring — of the ancient times. The king’s name was in the ring; 
and the impress of the ring was to stamp the king’s name. In 
this way, documents were sealed, and thus became law. "We 
have only to remember this to see the point we are after: God’s 
seal, or sign, is something connected with His law. It is the 



In the fourth commandment are found the three essential features of any legal 
seal: the name, the office, the territory. 

(115) 





116 


The Marked Bible 


signet portion, that in which His name is found, and therefore 
that which gives it the force of true law. 

“I need not remind you that three essential features are to 
be found in every law seal: first, the name of the official; 
second, his designated office; and third, the territory over 
which his authority extends. Thus the President of our coun¬ 
try, in signing any bill or other document, must sign his name, 
with the title appended, ‘President of the United States/ It is 
not enough that he sign only his name, for there might be 
other persons of the same name. Nor is it sufficient that he 
give only his name and office; for a person bearing his name 
might be president of a transit company or a literary club. 
No; it takes all three: 1, the name; 2, ‘President’ (office) ; and 
3, ‘United States of America’ (territory). 

“Let me now inquire if this principle is really recognized 
in God’s law,— the Ten Commandments. 

“The first and the last five of the commandments do not 
mention Jehovah’s name, so we will pass them. The second, 
the third, and the fifth give only His name. But the fourth, 
the Sabbath command, brings to view His name, His office, 
His realm. ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
[Jehovah] thy God’— here is His name. ‘In six days the Lord 
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is’— 
here He gives His office as Creator, and the extent of His 
authority as heaven and earth. Jehovah, Creator of the uni¬ 
verse— this is His official seal. The fourth commandment is 
the official seal of the divine law; and without it, that law 
would be invalid. Do you all see that this is so ?” 

There was no question. The truth was self-evident. 

“God Himself constantly points to the fact that He is 
Creator of all things, as reason why we should obey. See 
Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20: 8-11; Jeremiah 10:10-12; Psalm 
96:5; 33: 6-9; and other texts. And if any of you are going 
abroad as missionaries to the heathen, remember that only the 
truth of the fourth commandment, coupled with a conscien¬ 
tious observance of it, will convince them of the supremacy 
of our God.” 

The Catholic Church Approved the Change 

“Kindly explain that a little further,” said Mr. Spaulding. 

“Well, while the heathen believes in the greatness of his 
god or gods, he does not worship them as having creative 


A Choice That Is Vital 


117 


power. Thus when you come to him with authoritative word 
that Jehovah is the Creator, that He therefore made all the 
things which the heathen has worshiped, he sees that even the 
gods themselves must bow to Jehovah’s commands. The Sab¬ 
bath command thus becomes the signal for him to transfer 
his allegiance; and your obedience helps him to understand 
that God still lives, and re-creates those who yield to Him.” 

“That is fine, brother, fine,” said Mr. Spaulding. “We 
missionaries may well take the lesson to heart.” 

And now Mr. Conan spoke. “Mr. Anderson,” he said, 
“what about the mark of the beast? You are not touching 
that point.” 

“I think, Mr. Conan,” said the minister, “I will let you 
answer your own question. If the Sabbath commandment is 
the seal of God (and it is), and if the mark, or seal, of the 
beast stands in opposition to it, then, logically, what must 
we conclude as to the character of the mark?” 

“Why, logically, I should say it also is a Sabbath of some 
kind — that is, Sabbath opposing Sabbath,” was Mr. Conan’s 
reply. 

“Exactly so,” said Mr. Anderson. “And that is a historical 
fact, as I showed you yesterday. The beast, the papacy, h 
combination of church and state, in the fourth century of our 
era, succeeded in substituting tradition for the word of God, 
and wickedly attacking the truth of the fourth command¬ 
ment, substituted Sunday for the Sabbath. Eusebius, a bishop 
of that period, openly claimed that ‘all things whatsoever that 
it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to 
the Lord’s day.’ And not very long ago, one of the leading 
Catholic papers of the United States made the statement that 
‘the Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created 
Sunday as a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the 
old law.’ ‘We observe Sunday instead of Saturday,’ says a 
catechism that I saw yesterday, ‘because the Catholic Church, 
in the council of Laodicea (a. d. 336), transferred the solem¬ 
nity from Saturday to Sunday.’ 

“Now, as God points to His Sabbath seal as evidence of 
His authority, so the Church of Rome points to her Sunday 
mark as evidence of her authority. She proves her right to 
command feasts and holy days ‘by the very act’ (this from 
a catechism) ‘of changing the Sabbath into Sunday.’ Thus 
her ‘mark’ is set in boastful opposition to God’s ‘seal.’ 


118 


The Marked Bible 


“Summing all up, we have this: An apostate power has 
violated God’s law by tearing out its seal, and putting Sunday 
in its place. Then apostasy comes to men and demands of 
them that they accept the change it has made, enforcing its 
claims by law wherever and whenever it has sufficient in¬ 
fluence to do so. All the Sunday laws of our own and other 
lands have this wretched principle behind them. And lest 
some of you do not know, I may say here that both the prophe¬ 
cies of God’s word and the plans of the present Roman Church 
show that erelong all nations will pass laws making Sunday 
observance universal, and finally compelling men to keep it 
or die. Read Revelation 13 complete. 

“Many Christians have observed the Sunday in good con¬ 
science, believing they were doing the will of God; and He 
accepted the motive, the heart love. But now light is shining. 
God warns us against that apostate system comprised in the 
beast and his image, which exalts the false sabbath in the 
place of the true, and seeks to enforce it under penalties. 
Thus it becomes its mark. And when men in the light of God's 
message reject God’s day, and accept as their badge of al¬ 
legiance the Sunday as enforced by the beast and his image, 
they receive the mark of the beast, against which God warns. 
At what stage in men’s experience men cut themselves off from 
God, it is not for mortals to say. Judgment rests with God. 

Sabbath Reform Called for Now 

“At this time, therefore, God is calling upon us to turn 
again to His law and keep it wholly. He pleads with us to 
restore the Sabbath to its place. See Isaiah 8:16. He coun¬ 
sels us to tread it underfoot no longer. Isaiah 58 *. 13. He 
commands His messengers to stay the tide of human conflict 
until we have received its truth into our lives. Revelation 
7:1-3. He sends to the whole world a great gospel message 
inviting men to worship Him only —Him who created all 
things. Revelation 14: 6, 7. And finally He shows us that 
many will refuse to receive the Sunday mark, but, taking God 
fully into their lives, will keep all His commandments (Reve¬ 
lation 14:12), and, sealed with His seal, stand at last upon 
Mount Zion, in the kingdom of glory. Revelation 14:1. On 
the other hand, those who reject God’s message, who swing 
off with the world to please that power which opposes God, 
and thus partake of the spirit and character of the world, 


A Choice That Is Vital 


119 


will drink the wine of His wrath (Revelation 14: 9-11), and 
suffer the awfulness of those plagues which will then depopu¬ 
late the earth. Revelation 16. 

“Do you wonder, my friends, that I am interested in this 
matter? Is it worth your while to study it? Will any here 
to-day even think of treating the question lightly? Which 
will it be with you, Rome or Christ, the Sunday or the Sab¬ 
bath, the mark of the beast or the seal of the living God ?” 

Mr. Spaulding almost leaped to his feet. “Brother An¬ 
derson,” he said, “may I be permitted a few words ?” 

As he faced the people, it was evident that he had some¬ 
thing to say which was to mark a new era in his own life, and 
which would profoundly affect the lives of many others. 










CHAPTER XVI 


The Fruitage of the Marked Bible 

M R. SPAULDING seemed unable to get his voice. A pic¬ 
ture of his whole past life rose before him, and a sense 
of his great unworthiness seemed almost to overwhelm him. 

“My dear people, 77 he began, “without doubt, you are all 
aware that during this journey, I have been making a most 
determined effort to combat, in every way I could, the thought 
that the fourth commandment should be observed by Chris¬ 
tians. 

“You heard Judge Kershaw state, the other day, that he 
knew me in Arkansas, and that I stood in his court as a wit¬ 
ness against one who observed the Sabbath. What he said 
was too true. I gloried in the fact that that seventh-day 
brother was convicted, and my heart never smote me when he 
died, the victim of my bigotry. More than that, I have even 
wished, since this journey began, that something would occur 
to silence the voice of this young man, Mr. Wilson. I really 
have hated him, and his Bible as well. 

“But God has opened my eyes ; He has touched my heart 
and softened it. He has fulfilled the new covenant promise, 
and to-day I can truly say that I delight to do His will. The 
law that I wanted to think was abolished, and the Sabbath 
that I despised and even abhorred, are now written in my 
mind, and I am resting in Him. 

“Mr. Wilson had a godly mother. She loved God’s word. 
She wanted her boy to love it. And to that end, she put her 
tears and her prayers into this volume [here he took the 
marked Bible from the stand], trusting that in some way, 
her work of love would be blessed in heaven. That it has been, 
you can all see. Her son has found the Lord. But let me tell 
you, dear ones, this book and his mother’s prayers have been 
the means also of arresting me in my headstrong course.” 

Mr. Spaulding Resigns 

So earnest, so sincere, so tender was his testimony, that 
the very air seemed pregnant with the love of God. 

“And are you really going with me, Brother Spaulding ?” 
asked Harold Wilson. 

(120) 


The Fruitage of the Marked Bible 121' 

Mr. Spaulding responded by opening a folded paper that 
he held in his hand. It was his letter of resignation to the 
board under whose auspices he had started out on his mission. 
He then read: 

“Dear Brethren: 

“This is to inform you that God has miraculously wrought 
upon my life, and has brought me to understand that for 
years, like Saul of Tarsus, I have been foolishly kicking 
against the pricks. Even before the completion of my journey 
across the sea, I find myself so entirely at variance with my 
former belief and teaching, that I am obliged to desist from 
the purpose which sent me to the Orient, and to ask you to 
accept my resignation as a member of the Board of Foreign 
Missions. 

“That you may understand me fully, kindly allow me a 
brief statement concerning past personal experiences. 

“As you well know, I have been frequently chosen by my 
brethren to enter the arena of debate, to defend our views 
against the supposedly erroneous doctrines of the Sabbatari¬ 
ans. I have been regarded as eminently successful in my 
efforts. It was I, also, who was selected a few years ago to 
conduct the campaign against the violators of our Arkansas 
state Sunday law. And here, too, I was regarded as success¬ 
ful; for I secured several convictions, and had a vote of com¬ 
mendation from our district conference. 

“But throughout my ministry, there has followed me con¬ 
stantly a strange though somewhat vague consciousness that 
my views were not well founded in Scripture. Many a time, 
even while in the heat of argument, I have heard a voice tell¬ 
ing me I was wrong; but I refused to listen, thinking it only 
a foolish and temporary weakness of my own nature. The 
thought of halting and of testing my views was also stead¬ 
fastly put aside, for the reason that I feared change, and 
besides, my pride and my love of my people’s approval out¬ 
weighed my love of truth. 

“There has come to me, however, a series of providences 
which has brought me to my knees. The door of life has been 
swung so wide open, the light of inspiration has shone so 
clearly, and the love of God has so led me to repentance, that 
I have fully surrendered my heart to the influences of the 
Holy Spirit. I have found the actual way of life; and fol- 


122 


The Marked Bible 


lowing Jesns Christ, I am glad in Him. My questions and 
doubts are gone, and the Spirit bears witness that I have been 
born again. 

“In a word, dear brethren, I am now a Sabbath keeper, an 
observer of the seventh day. 

“Begging your indulgence a little further, I take the privi¬ 
lege of giving you a few of the principal reasons, gathered 
from the Bible, for my present course. 

“1. God’s word in its entirety is authoritatively from Him. 
2 Timothy 3 :16, 17 ; Romans 15: 4. 

“2. Jesus Christ was the Author. 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Peter 

1 : 10 , 11 . 

“3. The Old Testament as well as the New, reveals Christ. 
Luke 24: 25-27 ; John 5 : 39. 

“4. The gospel was known, and by it men were saved 
through faith, from the very beginning. Revelation 13:8; 
Galatians 3:8; with John §: 56; Hebrews 4:1, 2. 

“5. The gospel saves from sin (Matthew 1:21; Romans 
1: 16) ; sin is the transgression of the moral law (1 John 3: 
4) ; and the law points out the sin from which the gospel saves 
(Romans 3:20). 

“6. Sin entered the world at the beginning (Romans 5 : 12), 
and sin is not imputed where there is no law (Romans 4: 15; 
5: 13). Therefore the law dates from the foundation of the 
world. 

“7. The Sabbath, as a part of God’s law, was given to our 
first parents. Genesis 2:1-3. 

“8. It was made for the whole race of mankind. Mark 
2:27. 

“9. As Christ was the Creator (John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 
1:13-16), even so it was He who made the Sabbath and gave 
it to man. The Sabbath of the law is the Sabbath of Christ. 

“10. And Christ Himself, the Mediator, gave the law on 
Sinai. Galatians 3:19 with 1 Timothy 2: 5. The Ten Com¬ 
mandments are specially the gift of Jesus Christ. 

“11. As we have seen, Christ spoke through the prophets. 
1 Peter 1:10, 11. And through the prophets, He foretold His 
love for the law. Psalm 40: 7, 8; Isaiah 42 : 21. 

“12. When He came into the world, He lived and taught 
the sacred and far-reaching claims of the Ten Command¬ 
ments. John 15: 10; Matthew 5 :17, 18; 19:17. 


The Fruitage of the Marked Bible 123 

“13. The New Testament throughout follows Jesus’ teach¬ 
ing, and proclaims the authority of the law. Romans 3: 31; 
James 2: 8-12; Revelation 22 :14. 

“14. There has been absolutely no change in that law since 
it was given in Eden, for God is unchangeable. Malachi 3: 
6; Psalm 89:34; Matthew 5 :18. 

“15. The Sabbath, placed in the very bosom of the law, and 
a vital part of its great moral nature, has come to us, there¬ 
fore, unchanged and unchangeable. Moral precepts cannot 
change. 

“16. All through the ages, the Sabbath has been made the 
test of obedience, the sign of loyalty. Exodus 16:4, 27, 28; 
Jeremiah 17:24, 25; Exodus 31:16, 17; Ezekiel 20:12, 20. 

“17. As the seal of God’s law, it is the great gospel test of 
the last days of time. Revelation 7:1-3; 14: 6, 7. Compare 
Isaiah 56:1-8. 

“18. The cycle of the week has come down to us, without 
confusion or loss of count, from Paradise, as is shown by the 
records of all nations, ancient and modern, which have agreed 
often even in the names of the days. 

“19. From the time of Sinai, the Jewish nation has sa¬ 
credly preserved the seventh day; and Sinai pointed out and 
identified the seventh day of creation. Without doubt, there¬ 
fore, our week and its seventh day are identical with the week 
at the beginning. 

“20. Jesus kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:16), and therefore 
I should. 

“21. The women who were most associated with Christ kept 
it after the crucifixion. Luke 23 : 56. 

“22. The apostles observed it. Acts 17:2; 18:4, etc. 

“23. The seventh day was observed by the Christian church 
generally for more than two centuries after Christ. 

“24. Sunday was the great day of ancient pagan sun wor¬ 
ship ; and the custom of meeting on that day was introduced 
by ambitious, worldly churchmen to please the tastes* of the 
multitude, and to make Christianity popular. Had the church 
been faithful, Sunday observance would never have been 
known. 

“25. In the fourth century, when the church was com¬ 
pletely fallen, she joined hands with the state; and thus Sun¬ 
day became established by law, and has continued until now. 


124 


The Marked Bible 


The Church of Rome changed the Sabbath, according to the 
prophecy of Daniel 7 : 25. 

“26. But though the Sabbath has been set aside by the 
world at large, God is now calling upon men to honor Him by 
its observance (Isaiah 58:13), and warns them against fol¬ 
lowing the papacy and receiving its mark (Revelation 14: 
9-11). 

“27. Some will heed His message, and keep all His com¬ 
mandments. Revelation 14:12. 

“28. These will be sealed with His name, and in the better 
world, continue eternally to enjoy the blessed rest of the Sab¬ 
bath, which they found in Christ here. Revelation 14:1; 
Isaiah 66: 22, 23. 

“Now, my brethren, in view of all these scriptures, I have 
fully given my heart to God in new covenant relationship, 
and am already finding blessing in the gift of His holy Sab¬ 
bath. And so beautiful is this new life, that I cannot bid you 
farewell without inviting you to go with me. Will you not 
join me in the fullest possible consecration, and thus find that 
power which will enable us speedily to evangelize the world 
and bring the glad day of final victory ? 

“Your brother and coworker, 

, “Hugh M. Spaulding.” 

Mr. Spaulding Becomes a Crusader of the Cross 

“Yes, Harold, I am going with you. This day I offer my 
service to my Master as a true missionary of the cross; and if 
my Sabbath-keeping brethren shall find my gift acceptable, I 
shall experience great joy in taking my place among them in 
their work of preparing a people for the great day of God. 

“And now, in closing, may I ask if others here are not 
ready to join me?” 

The effect of the confession and invitation was electric. 
Almost a score of persons quickly stood. 

Judge Kershaw caught Mr. Spaulding’s hand. “Friends,” 
said he, “this day and its remarkable blessings lead me to 
say, as Simeon said in the temple, ‘Lord, now lettest Thou 
Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for 
mine eyes have seen Thy salvation/ I have found rest, and 
for the first time in my nearly seventy years, I have peace.” 

Then Mr. Severance turned, and facing the passengers, 
said: “I have been a man of business for more than thirty 


The Fruitage of the Marked Bible 125 

years. From a child, I have always wanted to be right; but 
somehow I had come to believe that Christianity had little in 
it, and that so far as I was concerned, there was nothing better 
to do than to live a clean life, and trust to come out all right 
in the end. 

“To please my wife, and possibly to help my business, I 
joined the church a few years ago; but it has been nothing 
to me except a form, and really I have been unhappy in my 
heart. 

“Two years ago I heard Brother Anderson preach in San 
Francisco. His words were plain; and in a way, his mes¬ 
sage appealed to me — however, only intellectually. My heart 
was not touched. 

“But last Tuesday, God brought home to me, in Brother 
Anderson’s word, a conviction of my sin, and a vision of what 
He wished me to be. I saw in his Sabbath message a light 
that showed me my true character. My sin rose before me, 
and I was overwhelmed with condemnation. Yet in it all, 
there was comfort. The Spirit has healed. To-day I am a 
new man, by the grace of God, and the Sabbath is my delight. 
I know now what it is to be a man,— an honest man after 
God’s order.” 

“This delightful testimony from Brother Severance,” said 
Mr. Anderson, “leads me to offer a word further, a word of 
confession. The reason why my preaching of a few years 
ago appealed only to my brother’s intellectuality was because 
I had not yet found the secret of preaching Christ and Him 
crucified. My evangelistic work was largely formal, and 
therefore did not truly reach hearts. I thank the Lord that 
I have found the better way.” 

Even Mr. Conan Surrenders 

At this point, and to the surprise of many, Mr. Conan 
rose from his seat, and said: “Friends, I was born and reared 
in the Roman Catholic Church, and have always boasted that 
nothing could ever influence me to change my faith. My 
church was to me the only church. Until only a little more 
than tw r enty hours ago, I never found anything to cause me 
the least anxiety about my faith. But here I am, at this 
hour, completely changed. My hands are no longer bound by 
the shackles of priest or pope. I am in a new world of truth, 
of beauty, of freedom. I have found Jesus Christ; and with 
all my heart, I expect to serve Him. I want to ask the prayers 


126 


The Marked Bible 


of Brother Anderson, through whom my revelation and de¬ 
liverance have come. I too, like Mr. Spaulding, was on a mis¬ 
sion for my church; but I abandon it all, that I may join with 
true Protestants in delivering men from the errors of the 
time, and particularly from the mark of apostasy .” 

“Isn’t this marvelous!” exclaimed Mrs. Slocum, in a voice 
that could be heard throughout the room. “This is what I 
have long waited to see. I want everybody to know that I am 
a Sabbath keeper from this day forward.” 

Captain Mann, standing with others, now found opportu¬ 
nity to add his word: “After fifty years of much blindness,” 
he began, “my eyes have finally been opened. I thought I 
knew what I did not know. I was certain, for one thing, that 
Jesus Christ changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and that on 
this account, I was under obligation to observe the first day 
for His sake. But my investigation has shown me that ig¬ 
norance only can accept that position. Christ never changed 
the day, but the papacy did. As a Protestant, therefore, and 
as one who believes fully in the everlasting claims of the law 
of God, and who takes the Bible and the Bible only as the rule 
of faith and practice, I give my hand and heart, my life and 
time and all, to the blessed truth which I have found. Here¬ 
after the world shall know me as a Seventh-day Adventist. 
God helping me, I can do naught else. This is my last trans¬ 
pacific journey as captain.” 

Mr. and Mrs. Gregory next bore their testimony of sur¬ 
render to God’s commands, Mrs. Gregory speaking particu¬ 
larly of her deliverance from the sea by the hand of one whom 
she had despised and hated. 

That day, seventeen souls jojned hands to serve God in the 
fullness of a new-found love and a new gift of power. The 
marked Bible had wrought its work. A mother’s prayers had 
been more than answered. 


The Sequel 

Several years have since passed, but the good work has 
gone steadily forward. Harold Wilson returned to San Fran¬ 
cisco, and, aided by Mr. Severance, perfected his education, 
entered the ministry, and now, as an ordained minister, is 
doing a mighty work in a foreign land. Captain Mann es¬ 
tablished a home for sailors, and Harold’s marked Bible was 
made a strong feature in its work of soul saving. Many a 
young man has found a heart awakening through contact with 


The Fruitage of the Marked Bible 


127 


the Book and through hearing the story of the mother who 
gave it. 

Mr. Spaulding and Mr. Gregory, true to their convictions, 
are continuing their ministry in two of our Eastern cities. 
Splendid indeed has been their success in leading sinners to 
“the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” 
Mr. Spaulding’s written statement of resignation led some 
of his former coworkers to follow him in the path of fuller 
light, Mr. Conan is now manager of a large religious insti¬ 
tution, and, withal, is a deeply spiritual man of God. With 
him, religion and business are identical. 

How wonderful are our Father’s providences! Let us 
learn the lesson that His word cannot fail, and that a mother’s 
prayers will surely be answered. 






Two Inspiring Volumes 

by Matilda E. Andross 

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